Mersey Docks and Harbour Board v Proctor: HL 1923

Viscount Cave LC said: ‘In such a case . . it is the duty of the Court of Appeal to make up its own mind not disregarding the judgment appealed from and giving special weight to that judgment in cases where the credibility of witnesses comes into question, but with full liability to draw its own inferences from the facts proved or admitted and to decide accordingly.’
Viscount Simmonds went on to say: ‘This does not mean that an appellate court should likely differ from the finding of a trial judge on a question of fact, and I would say that it would be difficult for it to do so where the finding turns solely on the credibility of the witness. But I cannot help thinking that some confusion may have arisen from failure to distinguish between the finding of a specific fact and a finding of a fact which is really an inference from facts specifically found, or, as it has sometimes been said, between the perception and evaluation of facts.’
Viscount Cave LC, Viscount Simmonds
[1923] AC 253, (1923) 39 TLR 275, (1923) 92 LJKB 479
England and Wales
Cited by:
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Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 September 2021; Ref: scu.187258