“Whereas disparities in the rules protecting consumers in different Member States are a disincentive to consumers in one Member State from buying packages in another Member State; Whereas this disincentive is particularly effective in deterring consumers from buying packages outside their own Member State, and more effective than it would be in relation to the acquisition of other services, having regard to the special nature of the services supplied in a package which generally involve the expenditure of substantial amounts of money in advance and the supply of the services in a State other then than in which the consumer is resident; Whereas the consumer should have the benefit of the protection introduced by this Directive irrespective of whether he is a direct contracting party, the transferee or a member of a group on whose behalf another person has concluded a contract in respect of a package;.”
“All Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the organiser and/retailer party to the contract is liable to the consumer for the proper performance of the obligations arising from the contract, irrespective of whether such obligations are to be performed by that organiser and/or the retailer or by other suppliers of services without prejudice to the right of the organiser and/or retailer to pursue those other suppliers of services.”
“The organiser and/or retailer party to the contract shall provide sufficient evidence of security for the refund of money paid over and for the repatriation of the consumer in the event of insolvency.”
“ …Before the Supreme Court, although a claim for breach of the 1992 Regulations was maintained, counsel for Mrs X emphasises that the claim was essentially a claim for breach of contract…”
“… In my view vicarious liability is not relevant here. Kuoni is liable both under the Directive as implemented by the 1992 Regulations and in breach of contract because the services it undertook to provide were not provided with care and skill by an employee of the hotel which was a supplier of the services….”
“An Act to establish for the protection of consumers a new system, administered by the Director General of Fair Trading, of licensing and other control of traders concerned with the provision of credit or the supply of goods on hire or hire-purchase, and their transactions, in place of the present enactments regulating money-lenders, pawnbrokers and hire-purchase traders and their transactions; and for related matters….”
“It is a tribute to his skill that his creation, widely praised for its lucidity and originality, when the Bill was introduced managed to withstand the pressures of a Parliamentary procedure as well as it did…”
“… section 189 not only gives definitions of its own but also indicates all the other sections in which definitions appear. When reading the Act it is essential to refer continually to s.189, because even words that might be assumed to have a meaning that was self-evident – such as ‘creditor’, ‘pre-existing arrangements’, ‘security’, and the like – are specially defined. The definitions are crucial to the understanding of the Act because the exhaustive and self-contained nature of the Act may mean that an item which does not come within the (often quite narrowly drafted) definition in s.189 may be wholly excluded from the operation of the Act.”
“There is a presumption that where the same words are used more than once in an Act they have the same meaning.”
“It is generally reasonable to assume that language has been used consistently by the legislature so that the same phrase when used in different places in a statute will bear the same meaning on each occasion – all the more so where the phrase has been expressly defined.”
“ debt is deferred, and credit is extended, whenever the contract provides for the debtor to pay, or gives him the option to pay, later than the time at which payment would otherwise be earned under the express or implied terms of the contract.”
“… Where the meaning of the statutory words is plain and unambiguous it is not for the judges to invent fancied ambiguities as an excuse for failing to give effect to its plain meaning because they themselves consider that the consequences of doing so would be inexpedient, or even unjust or immoral. In controversial matters … there is room for differences of opinion as to what is expedient, what is just and what is morally justifiable. Under our constitution it is Parliament’s opinion on these matters that is paramount.”
“My Lords, the only rule for the construction of Act of Parliament is, that they should be construed according to the intent of the Parliament which pass the Act. If the words of the statute are in themselves precise and unambiguous, then no more can be necessary than to expound those words in their natural and ordinary sense. The words themselves alone do, in such case, best declare the intention of the lawgiver.”