There is an element of contract in everyday activities of humans, either you are in Lagos, London or Beijing. There is absolutely nothing a man does, that is unknown to law — little wonder a great philosopher named Roscoe Pound opined that;
“Law is a social engineering, a balance between conflicting interests in the society”.
Generally, the principle of disclaimer operates in simple, complex, or multi-complex contract arrangements between parties. In a simple parlance, ‘Disclaimer’ refers to denial of legal responsibility or claim under any contracts.
This refers to a statement or clause that is intended to limit the application or enforceability of a right or interest (of a party) that may arise during the pendency of a contract.
Often, you would have come across a written statement at the entrance of a shopping mall that states thus;
“No refund policy after goods have been opened, all shoppers should endeavour to check their items before leaving, no exchange of goods”. Or a statement written on the wall at the lobby or carpark of a five-star hotel that states thus;
“Cars are parked at owner’s risk. Items are kept at owner’s risk”.
The common interpretation in law to these statements is that the party relying on it is avoiding/denying the right to be held liable in case there is a breach of contract. For instance, if a shopper parks her car where the statement is boldy written. And she saw it, hissed, and walked away without locking her car. Unfortunately, when she returned to the car park after her shopping, she could not find her car where she parked it.
The law is very simple. The shop owner has denied taking responsibility in case of a loss. Hence, the shop owner has been deemed to have denied/waived any responsibility or claim over any lost car or that of the lady.
It is a very technical (strict) principle because it operates for the benefit of one party to an agreement. Also, before the principle can be activated, the party relying on the disclaimer clause must satisfy that the other party has agreed to the terms of the contract.
The grounds to establish before claiming under a disclaimer operation is that there must be sufficient notice. It must be actual notice or a constructive notice to be able to rely on the clause.
There is no general rule without an exception. The disclaimer clause will not be allowed if;
‘Information is found to be purposely misleading or it has elements of fraud.’