ABSTRACT
This chapter will examine the legal framework for guarantees in English law. There are very few specific provisions on guarantees, and most of these are based on the Consumer Guarantees Directive, discussed in the previous chapter. The Directive was finally implemented in December 2002 by the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 (see generally, Howells and Twigg-Flesner, 2003). In addition to these rules, there are various provisions which are relevant in the context of consumer guarantees, and this chapter will demonstrate that there is a fairly complex legal framework of relevance guarantees currently in place. The first part of this chapter will review a reform proposal made in 1989 which would have introduced a detailed code on guarantees. Although this failed and there have been no attempts to resurrect it, it is nevertheless interesting to examine these proposals. This will be followed by a detailed discussion of the legal rules that have an impact on consumer guarantees.
