Reading a Case Exercise 2

Answers

2. What are the MATERIAL FACTS of the case (ie the facts the court considers relevant to the decision)?
   
   In assessing whether facts are material or not, materiality has to be measured against something. This yardstick is the legal issue. Hence, it is very important to understand the legal issue raised by the case, as this will determine the materiality of the facts.
   
   Obviously the judge(s) will attempt to identify the material facts - is their version necessarily definitive? In Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd Lord Goddard CJ does not sift the facts. You need to read the "Special Case" after the headnote and attempt to distil the facts relevant to answering the legal issue ie when an offer is made in a self-service store. Certain facts can be disregarded such as Boots premises being in Edgware Road, the types of "poison" bought, the dates of the purchase. Concentrate upon the factors important to the identification of an offer.
   
   The material facts may include the following:
   
   
   1. The defendants sold goods (or should it be "poisons"?).
   2. The defendant's shop was in a "self-service" form
   3. Goods were displayed on shelves.
   4. Customers were provided with wire baskets and invited to place goods in such baskets preparatory to presenting them for purchase at a cash desk
   5. At the cash desk a cashier scrutinised goods selected by the customer, assessed the value and accepted payment. This was done within the view of a registered pharmacist.
   
   
   Consider the impact of later cases on how the materiality of facts is viewed. Relate the latter point particularly to the problem of how widely or narrowly the facts are to be framed in the ratio, eg is the Pharmaceutical case one about the sale of drugs or about the sale of any goods?

 

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