TUTORIAL QUESTION

LAW OF SALE OF GOODS

1. The law of sale of goods protects, among other things, the ownership of goods by
ensuring that the title does not pass to other people except with the knowledge or
permission of the real owner. Therefore, a thief, for example, could not legally sell and
transfer the ownership of a stolen property to a third party.

Nevertheless, there are some circumstances where the title of goods can legally be
transferred to a third party despite the fact that the seller does not have proper or
complete ownership of such goods. Explain those situations with reference to the
Malaysia’s Sale of Goods Act 1967, relevant case(s) and/or illustrations of your own.

2. Mr Lee buys a bag of charcoal from Super-Mart Sdn Bhd so that his family can enjoy
themselves sitting around the fireplace in the chalet in Cameron Highlands.
Unfortunately, the bag of charcoal contained an explosive device which exploded when
Mr Lee lit the fire. Mr Lee was badly injured. Advise Mr. Lee.

3. Ah Soo, a mechanic, wanted to sell his car and advertised it as a Mercedes’ Benz C200,
2012…’ Bobby read the adevrtisement and immediately went to view the car. After
seeing the car, he agreed to buy it. Later, it was discovered that while the rear half of the
car was part of a Mercedes Benz C200, the front half was part of an earlier model, a
Mercedes Benz C180. Advise Bobby.

4. Discuss the rights of unpaid seller.

5. For the purpose of landscaping and aerial photography, Ananda wanted to buy a camera
that can catch the picture of an object as wide as 0.5 km area. He mentioned his
intention to Koh, the owner of a camera shop in Low Yat Plaza. Besides, he also wanted
to buy one hundred pieces of glossy paper for his work.

After obtaining the goods and going back home, Ananda found that the camera can only
cover and area as wide as 250m. The camera lens could not catch a wider object.
Ananda came back to the shop and confronted Koh with his problem. However, Koh said
the camera could not be returned because as a matter of rule in that shop, anything sold
is neither returnable or refundable. And, to Ananda’s surprise, Koh’s friend, Jack,
demanded the glossy papers back because Jack said he already bought them first from
Koh. Ananda had no idea on what to do with camera and glossy papers.

With Ananda in this case with reference to the provisions of law of sale of goods and
relevant case law that you have learned.
6. Based on an advertisement in a local newspaper, Fara purchased a car from Suarez,
the sale was completed last month. Unknown to Fara, the car was still charged to the
Bank Commerce as a security for money loan used by Suarez for a business. Fara also
found out that the car did match with specifications as advertised by Suarez.

Advise Fara and discuss the legal remedies available for Fara.