Ucta

The dealings among the society has evolved through out the years. From the trading of barter to the use of monetary devices in present times. It is an essential part of our lives. Some will demand for something that they need and some will supply to those that demand. In such a transaction, a set of rules or law is required in governing these transactions and also to safeguard the rights of the society from being abused. To the present day, what we have to guide us through these dealings are laid down in various acts of parliament. The most significant and important act that we have now is most probably the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (which I will now refer to as the SOGA 1979) which governs most contracts nowadays. This act is so important as it protects the rights of both the parties in the contract. Without acts such as this, contracts could be very unfair to certain parties and this would be a serious problem. These acts would work in such a way that when a party to a contract breaches it, he or she will be made liable to compensate the innocent party for the damages incurred by him or her. But before we go into further details about the acts, we should examine the history of the enactment of these acts especially the enactment of the SOGA 1979. It is said that the SOGA 1979's enactment lies solidly on the foundation of freedom of contract, privity of contract and caveat emptor. To know if this is true, one should look back in time to examine the accuracy of such a statement.

Human beings have the capacity to change their minds. They observe the world, calculate their interests, and act in the way they believe will best promote those interests. But, if everyone was free to change their minds according to the immediate circumstances, trade and commerce could not develop because there would be no guarantee that promises would be kept. Trade depends on stability in current behaviour, and predictability as to future behaviour. So there must be a system that reduces uncertainty and allows traders to make promises that others can rely on. So, rules must be developed to give some degree of certainty and predictability as to the outcome of the new courts. The first rules or laws was laid down in court decisions which is common law at the time. Promises to do or give something in return for something else is now know as a contract between the parties. This may have been the ideal process in conducting transactions but somehow, freedom to doing anything in a contract