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CURRENT LAW DIGEST SELECTED
In reading these cases note should be taken of the differences in English and Irish statute law.
All dates relate to dates reported in
The Times
newspaper.
Arbitration
[Judgment delivered November 28]
Factors to be considered by the Court when exercising
discretion whether or not to order an arbitration Tribunal
to state an award in the form of a special case were listed
by Mr. Justice Kerr in a reserved judgment in open court
after arguments in chambers.
Halfdan Greig & Co. A / S v Sterling Coal & Navigation
Corp. & another; 5 / 1 2 / 7 2; Q.B.D.
Crime
Before Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice
Willis and Mr. Justice Talbot.
Croydon Juvenile Court justices were justified in ordering
Croydon Corporation to pay fines imposed on a child in the
corporation's care and control and living at a home which
the corporation owned and ran. The fines were imposed
under section 55 of the Children and Young Persons Act,
1933, in respect of offences committed by the child.
Reg. v Croydon Juvenile Court Justices; 5/12/72;. Q.B.D.
Before Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Justice
Megawe and Mr. Justice Talbot.
The Court held that taking two bottles of whisky from a
display stand in a supermarket and placing them with an
intent to steal in a shopping bag was "appropriation" within
section 1 (1) of the Theft Act, 1968.
Reg. v McPherson and Others; 28/11/1972; C.A.
Before Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice
Melford Stevenson and Mr. Justice Brabin.
When the Court of Appeal orders the examination of
witnesses under section 23 (4) of the Criminal Appeal Act,
1968, the principle to be applied is that the examination
should take place in open court unless the examiner thinks
that the ends of justice will not be served by sitting in open
court. The examiner has a discretion to hear the witnesses
in private, and the discretion is to be exercised where the
ends of justice would not be served by a sitting in open court.
Reg. v Stafford; Reg. v Luvaglio; 14/11/1972; C.A.
Damages
Before Judge Stabb (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the
Queen's Bench Division).
The owners of three terraced cottages, of which one was
demolished by a lorry, were held not to be entitled to
damages for the cost of their reinstatement since they had
previously formed thei ntention of demolishing them as and
when the opportunity presented itself.
Hole & Son (Sayers Common) Ltd. & Another v Harrisons
of Thurnscoe Ltd., and Others; 23/11/72. Q.B.D.
Evidence
Before Mr. Justice Megarry.
[Judgment delivered November 13]
Expert valuers' evidence is not exempt from the hearsay
rule, his Lordship said when giving judgment on an appli-
cation by the plaintiffs, English Exporters (London) Ltd.,
of Baker Street, W, for a new tenancy (and at what rent) of
their premises from their landlords, Eldonwall Ltd., also of
Baker Street, and on an application by Eldonwall that an
interim rent be determined.
English Exporters (London) Ltd. v Edlsonwall Ltd.;
16/11/72; Ch.D.
Before Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord
Pearson, Lord Diplock and Lord Cross of Chelsea.
The evidence of an unsworn child admitted pursuant to
section 38 (1) of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933
can amount to corroboration of evidence given on oath by
another child (a complainant).
Director of Public Prosecutions v Hester; 22/11/1972;
House of Lords.
Nationality
A British protected person who went to Palestine before
1948 and became an Israeli national when Israel became
independent on May 16, 1948, did not have a dual nationality
so as to be both an Israeli national and a British national.
Medins v Whimster; 29/11/72; C.A.
Negligence
Before Lord Justice Sachs, Lord Justice Karminski and
Lord Justice Lawton.
[Judgments delivered November 24]
The duty of a highway authority under section 44 of
the Highways Act, 1959, is reasonably to maintain and repair
it so that it is free of danger to all who use it in a way
normally to be expected of them, tak'ng into account the
traffic normally to be expected on it. The authority cannot
expect all drivers to be model drivers.
Rider v Rider and Another; 28/11/72; C.A.
Before Lord Justice Davies, Lord Justice Karminski and
Lord Justice Lawton.
The Post Office won an appeal from an award of
£13,647 damages, by Mr. Justice O'Connor last March, to
the administrators of the estate of Mr. Norman Brian West-
wood, a Post Office technician, who died after falling
through a trap door of the lift room at Hackney telephone
exchange when working there on November 7, 1969.
Lord Justice Lawton, in a reserved judgment, said that
the Post Office had submitted that however much they might
have been to blame for the physical condition which was
the immediate cause of the accident, they were not liable to
pay the plaintiffs damages because when the accident hap-
pened Mr. Westwood was a trespasser.
Westwood and Another v The Post Office; 23/11/1972; C.A.
Before Lord Reid, Lord Wilberforce, Lord Simon, Lord
Kilbrandon and Lord Salmon.
A workman who contracted dermatitis after working only
three days in new and worse conditions won his right to
claim damages from his employers, the National Coal Board.
The House of Lords decided that the board's failure to pro-
vide adequate washing facilities materially contributed to the
risk of a disease about which medical science was not yet
fully informed.
McGhee v National Coal Board; 15/11/72; House of Lords.
Social Welfare
Before Mr. Justice Bean.
A football club was held not to be liable to pay national
insurance and industrial injury contribut
:
ons in respect of a
player who could not play football after being injured even
though he was quite capable of doing other work at the time.
Chesterfield Football Club v Secretary of State for Social
Services; 1/12/72; Q.B.D.
Statute of Limitation
Before Lord Denning, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice
Megaw and Mr. Justice Brabin.
Estate agents who sold a house in 1961 when the founda-
tions had already been covered up were held not entitled
to rely on the Limitation Act, 1939, as a defence to an
action the purchaser began in 1969, because they had known
at the date of the sale that the foundations put in were
unsound since the site was an old chalk pit which had been
filled in as a rubbish dump. The Court held that the pur-
chaser's right of action was not time-barred as it had been
concealed by "fraud" consisting of reckless conduct by the
defendants, within the meaning given to "fraud" in section
26 (b) of the 1939 Act in the decided cases.
King v Victor Parsons & Co.; 16/11/1972; C.A.
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