Part II
(4) This subsection relates to a contract in pursuance of which goods are carried by ship or hovercraft and which either—
- (a) specifies ship or hovercraft as the means of carriage over part of the journey to be covered; or
- (b) makes no provision as to the means of carriage and does not exclude ship or hovercraft as that means,
in so far as the contract operates for and in relation to the carriage of the goods by that means.
Liability for any breach of duty. 16.—(1) Where a term of a contract purports to exclude or restrict liability for breach of duty arising in the course of business or from the occupation of any premises used for business purposes of the occupier, that term—
- (a) shall be void in any case where such exclusion or restriction is in respect of death or personal injury;
- (b) shall, in any other case, have no effect if it was not fair and reasonable to incorporate the term in the contract.
(2) Subsection (1)(a) above does not affect the validity of any discharge and indemnity given by a person, on or in connection with an award to him of compensation for pneumoconiosis attributable to employment in the coal industry, in respect of any further claim arising from his contracting that disease.
(3) Where under subsection (1) above a term of a contract is void or has no effect, the fact that a person agreed to, or was aware of, the term shall not of itself be sufficient evidence that he knowingly and voluntarily assumed any risk.
Control of unreasonable exemptions in consumer or standard form contracts. 17.—(1) Any term of a contract which is a consumer contract or a standard form contract shall have no effect for the purpose of enabling a party to the contract—
- (a) who is in breach of a contractual obligation, to exclude or restrict any liability of his to the consumer or customer in respect of the breach;
- (b) in respect of a contractual obligation, to render no performance, or to render a performance substantially different from that which the consumer or customer reasonably expected from the contract;
if it was not fair and reasonable to incorporate the term in the contract.
(2) In this section “customer” means a party to a standard form contract who deals on the basis of written standard terms of business of the other party to the contract who himself deals in the course of a business.
