Justice for Pawnbroker

Wilson v First County Trust LtD (NO 2) CA TLR 16 May 2001

In an earlier judgment (20/LL p 69) the court had held that a loan agreement between the claimant and the defendant pawnbroker did not contain a term correctly stating the amount of the credit and accordingly was unenforceable under the provisions of section 127(3) of the Consumer Credit Act 1977. The present hearing was concerned with whether section 127(3) was incompatible with article 6.1 of the Convention on Human Rights or article 1 of its First Protocol, or both. The inflexible prohibition imposed by the section against the making of an enforcement order in a case where a loan agreement signed by the debtor did not include the prescribed terms infringed both article 6 of the ECHR and article 1 of the First Protocol to an extent which was disproportionate.