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CURRENT LAW DIGEST SELECTED
All references to dates relate to
The Times
newspaper.
In reading these cases note should be taken of the
differences in English and Irish statute law.
Banking
Before Mr. Justice Browne.
A £200,000 fraud claim by Bank Russo-Iran, an Iranian
subsidiary of the Russian state-bank, failed against Gordon,
Woodroffe & Co. Ltd., an English confirming house and
shipping and forwarding agents, only because according to
Iranian law the company were released from all liability by a
document signed by the bank.
Mr. Justice Browne, in a 249-page reserved judgment,
handed out after a 62-day hearing, held that the bank had
succeeded in establishing in English law a cause of action
against the company for fraudulent misrepresentation over
four letters of credit issued in connection with English lan-
guage books for Iranians and that the damages were £202,000.
They had also established an alternative cause of action for
money paid under a mistake of fact. Further the bank had
established that the conditions under the rules of private inter-
national law for the validity of the causes of action were
satisfied. The company were not discharged from their liability
in respect of the causes of action by a contract with Mr. E.
Manafzadeh, the central figure in the case, who had not been
called by either side and against whom criminal proceedings
were pending in Iran. But the company were released from all
liability by a document which, when properly construed,
released everyone, including the company, from any claim by
the bank in respect of the letters of credit frauds.
Bank Russo-Iran v Gordon Woodroffe and Co. Ltd.; QBD;
4/10/1972.
Crime
Before Lord Justice Karminski, Mr. Justice O'Connor, Mr.
Justice Forbes.
One person unlawfully fighting was properly charged with
and convicted of affray, their Lordships decided when giving
reasons for dismissing on Friday an appeal by V. Taylor, 27,
from conviction of affray by a majority verdict of 10 to 2 at
Nottingham Crown Court (Mr. Justice Phillips) in March.
The Court certified that a point of law of general public
importance was involved in the question whether a person
commits the offence of affray if he alone is fighting to the
terror of other persons. Leave to appeal was refused, but legal
aid was granted for a petition to the House of Lords for leave
to appeal.
Regina v Taylor; Court of Appeal; 9/10/1972.
Before Lord Justice Lawton, Mr. Justice Swanwick and Mr.
Justice Philips.
Conspiracy to trespass is an indictable offence, and the
crime of unlawful assembly can be committed in a building
because the public peace can be endangered by a rowdy, dis-
orerly meeting just as' much as if it is held inside a building
as outside.
Regina v Kamara and Others; Court of Appeal; 12/10/72.
Before Lord Widgery, Mr. Justice Caulfield, Mr. Justice
Eveleigh.
Where a deportation order is made by the court against a
person undrr Section 9 of the Commonwealth Immigranta
Act, 1962, and the person appeals against being deported to
the country specified in the order, he must show that another
country is willing to receive him. Their Lordships so held
when refusing an application by D. M. Ali, a Turkish Gypriot,
for an order of certiorari to quash directions for his removal
to Cyprus made by the Home Secretary in April 1972.
Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department and
Another, ex parte Ali; QBD; 21/9/1972
Before Lord Justice Cairns, Mr. Justice Browne and Mr.
Justice Kilner Brown.
When directing a jury trying a person charged with having
contravened Section 5 (b) of the House to House Collections
Act, 1939, by use of a document "which so nearly resembled
a prescribed certificate of authority as to be calculated to
deceive" the trial judge must tell them to put the document
used and a prescribed certificate side by side and by careful
comparison decide whether they are satisfied that the docu-
ment used so nearly resembled a prescribed certificate as to
be calculated, in the sense of likely, to deceive people who
saw it.
Their Lordships so stated when quashing convictions of J.
S. Davidson, 21, of Old Trafford, at Manchester Crown Court
(Judge Gerrard) in June for obtaining by deception contrary
to Section 15 (1) of the Theft Act, 1968, attempting to obtain
by deception, and contravening Section 5 of the 1939 Act.
Concurrent sentences totalling 12 months had been imposed.
Regina v Davison; Court of Appeal; 7/9/1972.
Family Law
Before Sir George Baker, Mr. Justice Payne and Mrs. Justice
Lane.
A husband who lives apart from his wife because of delusions
that she intended to murder him and who refuses to pay her
maintenance was held to be guilty of wilful neglect to main-
tain her under Section 1 of the Matrimonial Proceedings
(Magistrates' Courts) Act, 1960.
Brannan v Brannan; F.D.; 10/10/1972.
Before Mr. Justice Ormerod.
When considering financial provision for the wife following
dissolution of marriage the court should consider conduct as a
factor which might modify the amount which was arrived at
after consideration of all the other factors specified in Section
5 of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act, 1970.
Watchel v Watchel; F.D.; 5/10/1972.
Planning
Before Lord Denning, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice
Edmund Davies and Lord Justice Stephenson.
Where mining operations consisting in the excavation of
sand and gravel are carried out without planning permission,
the removal of every shovelful is a separate act of unauthorised
development in respect of which a valid enforcement notice
can be served on the operators.
Thomas David (Porthcawl) Ltd. v Secretary of State for
Wales; C.A.; 5/10/1972.
Vendor and Purchaser
Before Mr. Justice Goulding.
It was ruled that a vendor of residential property who had
failed to disclose terms of an existing lease of a flat on the prop-
erty was not entitled, under general condition 22 of the
National Conditions of Sale (18th edition) to serve a notice to
complete making time of the essence of the contract, and
thereafter to forfeit the deposit on non-completion within the
specified time allowed. It was further held that where such non-
disclosure was first discovered by the purchaser on the last
date for compliance with the notice, the purchaser must have
a reasonable opportunity to consider whether the non-disclosure
materially affected the value or description of the property,
even if the notice was valid and time had thus become of the
essence of the contract.
Mr. Justice Goulding was delivering judgment on an appli-
cation by the purchaser, Pagebar Properties Limited,
London W, for summary judgment for specific perfor-
mance of the contract under Order 86 of the Rules of the
Supreme Court against the vendor, Derby Investment Hold-
ings Ltd., London W.
Vacation Court; 29/9/1972.
Tax
Before Lord Denning, Lord Justice Buckley and Lord Justice
Orr.
Miss Hayley Mills, the actress, won her appeal against the
decision that her earnings as a child are taxable. Their Lord-
ships, Lord Justice Orr dissenting, allowed her appeal from
Mr. Justice Goulding who held (
The Times,
17 December
1971: [19721 1 WLR 473) that she was a settlor within the
meaning of Section 405 of the Income Tax Act, 1952, and
assessable to surtax arising out of arrangements made in 1960
and 1961.
Mills v Inland Revenue Commissioners; C.A.; 17/10/1972.
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