Fenton v Scotty's Car Sales Ltd

968 Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (the ...

NZLR 929 is a cited

case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to c ...

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regarding the

legality Legality, in respect of an act, agreement, or contract is the state of being consistent with the law or of being lawful or unlawful in a given jurisdiction, and the construct of power. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, legality is 1 : ...

illegal contract An illegal agreement under the common law of contract, is one that the court will not enforce because the purpose of the agreement is to achieve an illegal end. The illegal end must result from performance of the contract itself. The classic exam ...

s that pre date the

Illegal Contracts Act 1970 The Illegal Contracts Act 970'' is a New Zealand law that manages how contracts are deemed illegal under either common law or under Statute. Under this law, all such contracts are deemed illegal, but it gives wide discretionary powers to grant r ...

Background

Fenton purchased a car from Scotty's Car Sales. The vehicle had no current warrant of fitness at the time of the sale, despite this being required under regulation 53 of the Traffic Regulations 1956. Fenton later tried to have the sale set aside due to this breach.

Held

The court ruled that the object of the Traffic regulations was road safety, and not

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

, and accordingly ruled the contract enforceable. Footnote: Just 3 years earlier in Berrett v Smith

965 Year 965 ( CMLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II conquers the fortress cities of Tar ...

NZLR 460, ruled that a similar warrant of fitness case, the court declared was illegal, and so not legally enforceable.

References

High Court of New Zealand cases New Zealand contract case law 1968 in case law 1968 in New Zealand law {{NewZealand-case-law-stub