3000 words
Question 1
‘It is not for the judge to invent fancied ambiguities as an excuse for failing to give effect to its (legislation) plain meaning because they themselves consider what the consequences of doing so would be inexpedient, or even unjust or immoral.’
Lord Diplock in Express Newspapers Ltd. v Macshane (1980) 1 All ER 65 (HL), p 541
Discuss the above statement in the light of the Doctrine of Precedent, the rules of Statutory Interpretation and whether judges should be creating new law.
50 marks
Question 2
On Monday, David placed an advertisement in a local newspaper to sell his car –
‘Ford Flavia, 3 years old, super family hatchback, excellent condition, 1.2 diesel engine, 25,000 miles, only £5,500 – payable in cash.’
David also included the details of his home address and telephone number in the advertisement.
On Tuesday, after seeing the advertisement, Tare visited David and expressed his willingness to purchase the car. However he was only willing to pay £5,000 in cash. David refused to accept the deal.
On the same day, Sally posted a letter to David, indicating her desire to buy the car as advertised and stating that she would, in person, pay David £5,500 cash on Friday when she would collect the car. Sally worked with David and thought that this would be a good car for the price. However, her letter got lost in the post and never arrived at David’s address.
On Thursday, Lin went to David’s address and inspected the car. Lin was happy with the state and condition of the car, and enquired whether it would be possible to pay tomorrow afternoon as she needed time to sort out the finance. David agreed to this.
On Friday morning, Sally turned up at David’s premises with the £5,500 cash but David refused to sell the car to her because he thought he had an agreement with Lin. As soon as Sally left, Lin rang David indicating that she no longer wished to purchase the car because she could not raise the money. Fuming with anger over his recent luck, David turned to his son, Raphael, and said that he would sell the car for £4,500. Raphael immediately told him he would buy it for that price and he went to the bank and took out £4,500 to pay his father. However when he returned David told him he had decided not to sell the car as he had realised he was selling it for under the market value.
Advise the parties with regards to their possible contractual claim.
