AM

It doesn't matter if they put it in writing - that doesn't make it legal.

Trading standards are in fact incorrect in making assumptions that imports are legal.

One aspect of this which is particularly important is the fact that for example, in Canada, you sign the waiver and in Canada it is legal to disclaim liability for personal injury or death - the so called "exclusion clause" in a contract.

In Britain, you cannot disclaim liability for personal injury or death, under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. Furthermore, liability upon selling products second hand is not governed through Trading Standards.

There are EU directives governing the sale of goods (CE and Non-CE) and these are supposed to have direct effect in the Member States. Ha, supposed to have - note my irony.

Anyway - be careful - this is a tricky area and one which appears to be receiving a fair bit of parliamentary attention at the moment.

A claim could be brought in negligence if you attempted to sell a non-CE unit and if you attempted to disclaim liability through the waiver or otherwise it will not stand up in Britain. Particularly if you are an instructor selling a second hand unit, it could be asserted that you have a duty of care (there are no black and white legal rules about whether or not you owe a duty of care, it comes down to policy decisions, the relationship between the parties etc). Any claim in negligence for selling a non-CE marked unit would essentially have to show that there was a duty of care, there was a breach of that duty of care and the resulting loss/damage is attributable to the breach.

These tripartite criteria are set in case law precedent under the professional negligence criteria laid down in the Caparo case. Be careful - there are legal precedents set in stone, which in Britain, have to be followed and Trading Standards have absolutely no jurisdiction in this.

Regards

AnneMarie

__________________