Legal Studies 1010

There are three groups in Canadian society that cannot make contracts that are legally binding. The reason for this is so that they are protected from being taking advantage of by others deemed to be more experienced and, so, in a position of advantage. These three groups are as follows:

• minors
• people who are developmentally challenged;
• people who are impaired.
  
  
  

It is the first, MINORS, that we will be discussing in this lesson.

The law in Canada protects minors by preventing them from being bound by contracts against their will, in most instances. That means that if a 16 year boy, for example, contracts to buy a mountain bike, puts down a deposit on it, and then, when he gets home, realizes he will never be able to pay for the bike, he can go back to the store and cancel-the contract.

Of course he will have to return the bike, and he cannot expect to get the deposit back, but he can get out of the deal. In addition, as long as he has not deliberately damaged the bike, he cannot be charged for any wear and tear it suffered while in his possession.

In principle, all this likely sounds sensible to you; most people would agree that young people should not be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults.

However, there is a problem here that may not have occurred to you. If merchants know that the minors with whom they are dealing will not be held responsible for the purchases they make, those merchants just may choose not to deal with minors at all.

This could have severe consequences for those very minors the law is trying to protect.

For this reason, the law distinguishes between necessaries and non-necessaries when it comes to contracts with minors.

Necessaries: goods and services considered essential for a person's health and well-being

The law does insist that if minors make contracts for the purchase of necessaries, that these contracts are binding. The courts consider the following items to be necessaries:

• food
• clothing
• medical services
• education
• shelter
  
  

That means that a merchant can safely sell these things to a minor on credit, providing a reasonable price is charged. The law will not, for example, allow a merchant to take advantage of minors' inexperience by grossly overcharging them. In enforcing a contract for a necessary, the courts will insist that minors pay only reasonable prices for things they contract to buy.

Non-necessaries: goods and services not considered essential for a person's health and well-being

Test Yourself: Answer the following questions.

1. Seventeen year old James rents a small apartment, but at the end of the month he moves out, claiming he cannot pay the rent. Can his landlord enforce this contract in court and collect his rent money?' Explain.
   
   
   
   

   
   
   

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2. Sixteen year old Bruno buys a drum kit on credit. A week later, he returns it with one of the skins broken. Can the merchant get any compensation?' Explain.
   
   
3. Heddi, a teenaged girl, wants to buy a digital camera. The merchant hesitates to do business with her because he suspects she is a minor and may go back on the deal. The girl, who is, in fact, 17, tells the merchant she's 18, and so the sale is made. If Heddi later tries to get out of this deal, do you think the courts should hold her to it because she lied?' Explain your answer.
   
   
4. Imagine you are a merchant about to make a contract with a minor for the sale of non-necessaries. What steps would you take to protect yourself?