Report No. 20
4. Scope of the English Acts.-
At the very outset it should be stated that the English statutes aforesaid do not purport to codify the law on the subject of hire-purchase agreements. They merely enact certain provisions intended to give relief to hirers against penal terms in the agreements and against oppressive conduct on the part of the owners. All other matters relating to the agreement, however, such as whether the parties thereto had the capacity to enter into it, whether there was free consent for it, whether it is bad as being illegal, immoral or opposed to public policy and the like, are governed by the ordinary law relating to contracts.
Our proposals are, likewise, not intended to be exhaustive of the law on the subject. There purpose is only to define and regulate the rights of the owners and hirers and of persons claiming under them in certain circumstances. In all other respects, the agreements will be governed by the law in force relating to contracts. In other words, it is not proposed by this legislation to codify the law relating to hire-purchase agreements, but only to amend it.
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