Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

33.   Court's powers on hearing of court action

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   (1)   On the hearing of the action pursuant to section 32, the Court may, without prejudice to any other power—

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      (a)     make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods to the owner;

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      (b)     make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods to the owner and postpone the operation of the order on condition that the hirer or any guarantor pays the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price at such times and in such amounts as the court, having regard to the means of the hirer and of any guarantor, thinks just, and subject to the fulfillment of such other conditions by the hirer or a guarantor as the court thinks just; or

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      (c)     make an order for the specific delivery of a part of the goods to the owner and for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remainder of the goods.

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   (2)   An order shall not be made under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) unless the hirer satisfies the Court that the goods are in his or her possession or control at the time when the order is made.

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   (3)   The Court shall not make an order transferring to the hirer the owner's title to a part of the goods unless it is satisfied that the amount which the hirer has paid in respect of the hire-purchase price exceeds the price of that part of the goods by at least one-third of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price.

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   (4)   If in an action to which this section applies an offer as to the conditions for the postponement of the operation of any order under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) is made by the hirer and accepted by the owner in accordance with rules of court, an order under that paragraph may be made by the court in accordance with the said offer without hearing evidence as to the matters specified in the said paragraph (b) or in subsection (2).

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   (5)   Where a guarantor is a party to the action an order pursuant to subsection (4) shall not be made before the date fixed for the hearing of the action.

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   (6)   Where damages have been awarded against the owner in the proceedings the Court may treat the hirer as having paid in respect of the hire-purchase price in addition to the actual amount paid, the amount of the damages, or such part of the damages as the Court thinks fit, and the damages shall accordingly be remitted either in whole or in part.

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   (7)   If at any time before the hearing of an action to which this section applies the owner has recovered possession of a part of the goods, the references in subsection (1) to all the goods shall be construed as references to all the goods which the owner has not recovered, and if the parties have not agreed on an adjustment of the hire-purchase price in respect of the goods so recovered, the Court may, for the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1), make such reduction of the hire-purchase price and of the unpaid balance as the court thinks just.

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   (8)   Where an owner has recovered a part of the goods let under a hire-purchase agreement and the recovery was effected in contravention of section 25, the provisions of this section shall not apply in relation to any action by the owner to recover the remainder of the goods.

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   (9)   For the purposes of this section—

“order for specific delivery of the goods to the owner” means an order for delivery of the goods to the owner, without giving the hirer an option to pay their value;

“price” in relation to any goods means such part of the hire-purchase price as is assigned to those goods in the hire-purchase agreement, or, if no such assignment is made, such part of the hire-purchase price as the Court may determine.