United Kingdom commercial law is the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

which regulates the sale and purchase of goods and services, when doing business in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History

The Guildhall in the City of London - geograph

Lex Mercatoria (from Latin language, Latin for "merchant law"), often referred to as "the Law Merchant" in English, is the body of commercial law used by merchants throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period. It evolved similar to English common ...

Hanseatic league The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

Mercantilism Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...

* Freedom of contract *''

Laissez faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

Foundations

Personal property

Real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...

and

personal property Personal property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law (legal system), civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—a ...

Ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

* Equitable ownership * Possession * Attornment *

Bailment Bailment is a legal relationship in common law, where the owner of personal property ("chattel") transfers physical possession of that property to another, who holds the property for a certain purpose, but retains ownership. The owner who sur ...

Contracts

* Commercial contracts

Agency

In the case of '' Watteau v Fenwick'', Lord Coleridge CJ on the Queen's Bench concurred with an opinion by Wills J that a third party could hold personally liable a principal who he did know about when he sold cigars to an agent that was acting outside of its authority. Wills J held that "the principal is liable for all the acts of the agent which are within the authority usually confided to an agent of that character, notwithstanding limitations, as between the principal and the agent, put upon that authority." This decision is heavily criticised and doubted,e.g. GHL Fridman, 'The Demise of Watteau v Fenwick: Sign-O-Lite Ltd v Metropolitan Life Insurance Co' (1991) 70 Canadian Bar Review 329 though not entirely overruled in the UK. It is sometimes referred to as "usual authority" (though not in the sense used by Lord Denning MR in ''Hely-Hutchinson'', where it is synonymous with "implied actual authority"). It has been explained as a form of apparent authority, or "inherent agency power". *'' Hely-Hutchinson v Brayhead Ltd'' 9681 QB 549 *Creation and authority of agents *Disclosed and undisclosed agency *Agent duties and rights *Termination of agency

Sale of goods

Sale of Goods Act 1979

Sale of Goods Act 1979 The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (c. 54) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulated English contract law and UK commercial law in respect of goods that are sold and bought. The Act consolidated the original Sale of Goods Act ...

, the primary statute applicable to the sale of goods.

Property passing and delivery

* Title retention clause

Terms, acceptance and rejection

* Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 * Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

Remedies and duties

* United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods *

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration is a model law prepared and adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on 21 June 1985. In 2006, it was amended and now includes more detailed pr ...

Bills of exchange and banking

Negotiable instrument A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...

Bill of exchange A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...

Bank regulation Banking regulation and supervision refers to a form of financial regulation which subjects banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, enforced by a financial regulatory authority generally referred to as banking supervisor, wit ...

Payment system A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. This includes the institutions, payment instruments such as payment cards, people, rules, procedures, standards, and technologies that ...

s *

Cheque A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...

Assignment and receivables

International sales

* United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods * Free alongside ship contract * Free on board contract *Cost, insurance, freight contract

Commercial credit and security

Possessory security

* Pledges *

Lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

Non-possessory security

Mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

* Equitable charge * Equitable lien

Guarantees

Insurance law

* Life Assurance Act 1774 * uberrimae fidei * Subrogation *

Marine insurance Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance a sub-branch of mari ...

and

Marine Insurance Act 1906 The Marine Insurance Act 1906 (8 Edw. 7. c. 41) is a UK act of Parliament regulating marine insurance. The act applies both to "ship & cargo" marine insurance, and to protection and indemnity insurance, P&I cover. The act was drafted by Sir Macke ...

Insolvency law

Notes

References

*L Sealy and RJA Hooley, ''Commercial Law: Texts, Cases and Materials'' (4th edn OUP, Oxford 2008) * Roy Goode, ''Commercial law'' (3rd edn Penguin, London 2004) United Kingdom business law {{UK-law-stub