| 释义 |
exemption clause
A term in a contract purporting to exclude or restrict the liability for breach of obligation of one of the parties in specified circumstances. The courts do not regard exemption clauses with favour. If such a clause is ambiguous, they will interpret it narrowly rather than widely. If an exclusion or restriction is not recited in a formal contract but is specified or referred to in an informal document, such as a ticket or a notice displayed in a hotel, it will not even be treated as a term of the contract unless reasonable steps were taken to bring it to the notice of the person affected at the time of contracting (Parker v South Eastern Railway (1877) 2 CPD 416, All ER 166). The Unfair Contract Terms Act of 1977 subjects certain types of exemption clauses to a test of reasonableness and applies to business-to-business transactions. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 contains provisions limiting the extent to which a person can exclude or restrict his business liability towards consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority monitors such clauses and enforces the 2015 Act. Other statutes forbidding the exclusion or restriction of particular forms of liability are the Defective Premises Act 1972, the Consumer Protection Act 1987, and the Road Traffic Act 1988. See also exclusion and restriction of negligence liability; international supply contract. |