A consignment of whisky was stolen whilst on consignemt from a bonded warehouse under CMR terms for Teheran. In bond, it was worth 7,000 pounds, and on export no excise duty was to be paid. Being stolen in the course of transit, excise duty of 30,000 pounds became payable. The plaintiffs claimed to recover the value including the duty, under Article 23.2 of the CMR.
Held: The liability to excise duty constituted ‘other charges’ under Article 23.4. The English text of the convention was incorporated through a schedule. A parallel Fench text had equal authenticity. The process of statutory interpretation required the court directly to interpret the English text of the convention while recognising that another authentic text existed. The court could interpret the statute on broad principles of general acceptation, assisted if need be by reference to the French text, without the need for a preliminary test of ambiguity.
Lord Wilberforce said:’I think that the correct approach is to interpret the English text, which after all is likely to be used by many others than British businessmen, in a normal manner, appropriate for the interpretation of an international convention, unconstrained by technical rules of English law, or by English legal precedent, but on broad principles of general acceptation: Stag Line Ltd v Foscolo, Mango and Co Ltd [1932] AC 328, per Lord Macmillan, at p 350. Moreover, it is perfectly legitimate in my opinion to look for assistance, if assistance is needed, to the French text. This is often put in the form that resort may be had to the foreign text if (and only if) the English text is ambiguous, but I think this states the rule too technically. As Lord Diplock recently said in this House the inherent flexibility of the English (and, one may add, any) language may make it necessary for the interpreter to have recourse to a variety of aids: Carter v Bradbeer [1975] 1 WLR 1204, 1206. There is no need to impose a preliminary test of ambiguity.’
Lord Wilberforce, Lord Salmon, Lord Dilhorne
[1978] AC 141
Customs and Excise Act 1952 85
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Stag Line v Foscolo, Mango and Company HL 1931
English statutes which give effect to international conventions need to be interpreted with the international origin of the rules well in mind. The Act only applies to contracts of carriage of goods outwards from ports in the United Kingdom, and the . .
Appeal from – James Buchanan and Company Ltd v Babco Forwarding and Shipping (UK) Ltd CA 2-Dec-1976
A trailer full of whisky had been stolen. Four fifths of its retail value was excise duty. Because it was to have been exported, duty had not been paid. On the theft the owners had had to pay the duty. The owners sued the carriers for the loss, but . .
Cited by:
Distinguished – Sandeman Coprimar Sa v Transitos Y Transportes Integrales S L , Bradford Cargo Terminal Limited, Spain Tir Centro Transportes Internacionales S A , Interserve International Freight Plc, Joda Freight CA 11-Feb-2003
Sub-bailees had lost Spanish tax seals which vouched for the respective tax having been paid whilst whisky was being transported from Scotland to Spain. The seals themselves were made of paper and had no intrinsic value. The importers claimed for . .
Cited – Deep Vein Thrombosis and Air Travel Group Litigation HL 8-Dec-2005
The appellants had suffered deep vein thrombosis whilst travelling on long haul air flights. The defendants said that their liability was limited because the injuries were not accidents.
Held: The claimants’ appeal failed. The definition of . .
Cited – Revenue and Customs v Smallwood and Another CA 8-Jul-2010
The taxpayers had set up trusts which they said were based in Mauritius allowing them to claim double taxation relief. The Revenue had issued closure notices, confirmed by the SPCT, but overturned by the High Court. The Revenue appealed, saying that . .
Cited – British American Tobacco Denmark A/S v Kazemier Bv SC 28-Oct-2015
One container loaded with cigarettes was allegedly hi-jacked in Belgium en route between Switzerland and The Netherlands in September 2011, while another allegedly lost 756 of its original 1386 cartons while parked overnight contrary to express . .
Cited – Gard Marine and Energy Ltd and Another v China National Chartering Company Ltd and Another SC 10-May-2017
The dispute followed the grounding of a tanker the Ocean Victory. The ship was working outside of a safe port requirement in the charterparty agreement. The contract required the purchase of insurance against maritime war and protection and . .
Cited – Mitsui and Co Ltd and Others v Beteiligungsgesellschaft Lpg Tankerflotte Mbh and Co Kg and Another SC 25-Oct-2017
This appeal raises the issue whether the daily vessel-operating expenses of shipowners incurred while they were negotiating to reduce the ransom demands of pirates should be allowed in general average – ie whether those expenses should be shared . .
Cited – Smallwood v Revenue and Customs ChD 8-Apr-2009
The taxpayer had settled company shares for the benefit of himself and his family. He appealed from an amendment to his tax returns creating a CGT liability of 6 million pounds.
Held: The appeal was successful. . .
Cited – Warner v Scapa Flow Charters (Scotland) SC 17-Oct-2018
This appeal raises a question about the interpretation of article 16 of the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea 1974 (‘the Athens Convention’) and its application to the Scots law of limitation of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 September 2021; Ref: scu.179737