Commercial law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Commercial law - Essay Example Lord Atkin asserted that a manufacturer owed a legal duty of care to the ultimate consumer of his product. In discussing duty of care as a legal concept, Lord Atkin established the â€Å"neighbour† principle. Furthermore, in the case of in the Bolton v Stone2 the House of Lords held that whilst foreseeability was relevant to the issue of whether as duty of care exists, once established the issue of breach was ultimately dependant on the reasonableness of the defendant’s actions. In order for a manufacturer to be liable in negligence there has to be proximity and the case of Anns v Merton London Borough3 asserted that the proximity test relies on a consideration of the nature of the relationship between the parties. Once duty of care has been established, a claimant has to establish that the manufacturer’s breach of duty caused actionable damage. The standard of care imposed by law in order to determine a breach of duty is objective and that of â€Å"the reasonable and prudent man4†. The degree of care to be expected is founded on considering what a reasonable man, careful for the safety of his neighbour would do and requires a consideration of the degree of the likelihood of harm occurring, the cost and practicability of measures needed to avoid it and the seriousness of the consequences5. The preliminary test for determining causation is the â€Å"but-for† test and whether the claimant would not have suffered the damage â€Å"but-for† B’s negligence6. Moreover, the Wagon Mound No.17 decision asserted that a defendant is only liable to pay damages if the damage was reasonably foreseeable and not too remote. The primary legislative measures pertaining to manufacturer liability are governed by the Trade Practices Act 1974 as amended (TPA), which implies certain rights and warranties into commercial contracts and consumer sales agreements. The TPA