The conclusion is that Megastores should shoulder the responsibility for the damage to the two toys whilst Toys4U should be free from such responsibility.
The parties involved here are Megastores and Toys4U, the seller and the buyer, respectively. The subject of the contract of sale is a Polaris missile toy, ten units of them. Megastores contended that Toys4U was liable for the damage of two of the toys because ownership had already passed to the latter at the time the damage occurred. The issue here is whether or not ownership had already passed to Toys4U at the time of the damage.
Toys4U is not liable for the damage of the two Polaris missiles toys because it occurred before ownership passed from Megastores to Toys4U. This is supported by the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (Soga) and pertinent case law previously decided by the courts.
The applicable statute here is the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (Soga hereafter), which received Royal Assent on December 6, 1979, and took effect commencing January 1, 1980. The Soga governs transactions of sale of goods within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. Specific provisions of said law applicable here are: s 2(1), which defines a contract of sale. s 17 (1) and (2), which provide for the exact time-specific or ascertained goods are deemed transferred from seller to buyer. s 18 Rule 2, which provides for the exact time property passes from seller to buyer when seller is first required to put goods in a deliverable state, and. s 20 (1), which allocates risk liability to parties.
Section 20 (1) of the SoGA 1979 provides that the property subject of the sale remains at the risk of the seller until transferred to the buyer. This means that Megastores should shoulder damage sustained by the toys unless ownership was explicitly or implicitly passed to Toys4U at the time of the sale. Since there was no explicit agreement to this effect by the parties at the time of sale, hence. a determination as to the implicit intention of the parties should be made. . .
