Pharmaceutical Society of GB v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd
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''Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd'' EWCA_Civ_6
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is a famous English contract law decision on the nature of an Offer and Acceptance">offer Offer or offers may refer to: People * Ofer Eshed or Offer Eshed (1942-2007), Israeli basketball player * Offer Nissim (born 1964), Israeli house DJ * Avner Offer, economic historian * Dick Offer, English rower * Jack Offer, English rower * Steve ...
. The Court held that the display of a product in a store with a price attached is not sufficient to be considered an offer, and upheld the concept of an invitation to treat.


Facts

Boots Cash Chemists had just instituted a new way for its customers to buy certain medicines. Shoppers could now pick drugs off the shelves in the chemist and then pay for them at the till. Before then, all medicines were stored behind a counter meaning a shop employee would get what was requested. The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain objected and argued that under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933, that was an unlawful practice. Under s 18(1), a pharmacist needed to supervise at the point where "the sale is effected" when the product was one listed on the 1933 Act's schedule of poisons. The Society argued that displays of goods were an "offer" and when a shopper selected and put the drugs into their shopping basket, that was an "acceptance", the point when the "sale is effected"; as no pharmacist had supervised the transaction at this point, Boots was in breach of the Act. Boots argued that the sale was effected only at the tills.


Judgment

Both the
Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...
of the High Court and the Court of Appeal sided with Boots. They held that the display of goods was not an offer. Rather, by placing the goods into the basket, it was the customer that made the offer to buy the goods. This offer could be either accepted or rejected by the pharmacist at the cash desk. The moment of the completion of contract was at the cash desk, in the presence of the supervising pharmacist. Therefore, there was no violation of the Act. Somervell LJ said, Birkett LJ followed on by saying,


See also

*
Contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
*
Offer and acceptance Offer and acceptance are generally recognised as essential requirements for the formation of a contract, and analysis of their operation is a traditional approach in contract law. The offer and acceptance formula, developed in the 19th century, id ...
*
Invitation to treat An invitation to treat (or invitation to bargain in the United States) is a concept within contract law which comes from the Latin phrase ''invitatio ad offerendum'', meaning "inviting an offer". According to Professor Andrew Burrows, an invitat ...


Notes

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