On
Section 23 of the Australian Consumer Law states that a term of a small business contract or consumer contract is void if it is unfair and the contract is a standard form contract. As significant pecuniary penalties were introduced into the UCT Laws on
The Ruby Princess Case concerned a class action proceeding for loss or damage brought against
Relevantly, 696 passengers from
Carnival argued that the passengers who agreed to the Waiver could not form part of the class action proceedings.
The question for the
After applying Australian principles of statutory interpretation, the Court determined that the UCT Laws will apply to all standard form small business contracts and consumer contracts where at least one party is incorporated in
- where the contract is for goods that are provided, or for services that are performed, wholly or predominantly overseas
- where the goods or services are acquired by a business or consumer located overseas
-
where the contract contains clauses specifying that the law of a jurisdiction other than
Australia will govern the contract.
The Court therefore held that section 23 of the Australian Consumer Law (and the other UCT Laws) applied to the US T&Cs as it was a standard form consumer contract and Carnival carried on business in
The Waiver was further held by the Court to be unfair and void under the UCT Laws in the relevant circumstances.
The High Court's decision in the Ruby Princess Case provides much needed clarity on the application of the UCT Laws to the provision of goods and services where one party to the contract is located outside of
Businesses that are parties to these types of contractual arrangements should familiarise themselves with the UCT Laws and obtain legal advice before entering into any standard form small business contracts or consumer contracts, or, if there are existing contracts that have an unfair contract term in them, before enforcing or trying to enforce such a term. Substantial pecuniary penalties now apply to breaches of the UCT Laws.
Further information on the latest changes to
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