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The Principle Of Unconscianbility Within Australian Consumer Law

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The principle of unconscianbility within Australian consumer law was applied most notably in the case of Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio. These judgments later played a role in determining the outcome of the Kakavas v Crown Melbourne Ltd, whereby the High court considered the principles and outcomes from the first case in the latter. Unconscionable conduct is concerned with the abuse of a dominant position by one contracting party over a weaker contracting party. When determining if this principle of unconscionable conduct has occurred, three main principled must be assed: Wether or not the party claiming unconscionable conduct has a special disability This special disability was evident to the unconscionable party Unconscionable party has an onus to prove that they should still uphold the contract The concept of a special disability arose for consideration throughout the case of Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio. The party to the case were two elderly migrants who were unfamiliar with written english (footnote from case study). The migrants were the parents of Vincenzo Amadio (Vincenzo) who held a high corporate position within V. Amadio Builders Pty. Ltd. (The company). Vincenzo asked his parents to provide a security starting that the mortgage would be limited to $50,000 over a duration of sixth months which however to his best knowledge was not so limited. The principle of special disadvantage that applied to the respondents led to their

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