Limitation does not run in favour of a thief. A painting stolen during the war and dealt with by those knowing its true origin remained in the ownership of the original owner however long it had been held by someone who was not a purchaser in good faith. Moses J said: ‘In resolving the disputes as to foreign law, I must be guided by the following principles:
(1) when faced with conflicting evidence about foreign law, I must resolve differences in the same way as in the case of other conflicting evidence as to facts (Bumper Development Corporation Ltd v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [1991] 1 WLR 1362 at 1368G);
(2) where the evidence conflicts I am bound to look at the effect of the foreign sources on which the experts rely as part of their evidence in order to evaluate and interpret that evidence and decide between the conflicting testimony (Bumper Corporation at 1369H ;
(3) I should not consider passages contained within foreign sources of law produced by the experts to which those experts have not themselves referred (Bumper Corporation at 1369D to G);
(4) it is not permissible to reject uncontradicted expert evidence unless it is patently absurd (Bumper Corporation at 1371B);
(5) In considering foreign sources of law I should adopt those foreign rules of construction of which the experts have given evidence (this principle underlies the principle that an English court must not conduct its own researches into foreign law);
(6) whilst an expert witness may give evidence as to his interpretation as to the meaning of a statute, it is not for the expert to interpret the meaning of a foreign document. His evidence will be limited to giving evidence as to the proper approach, according to the relevant foreign rules of construction to that document’.’
Judges:
Moses J
Citations:
Times 09-Oct-1998
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
See also – City of Gotha v Sotheby’s and Another CA 19-Jun-1997
An abandonment of privilege within discovery proceedings did not imply general waiver of same privilege; limited to instant proceedings. . .
Cited by:
See also – City of Gotha v Sotheby’s and Another CA 19-Jun-1997
An abandonment of privilege within discovery proceedings did not imply general waiver of same privilege; limited to instant proceedings. . .
Cited – Rachmaninoff and Others v Sotheby’s and Another QBD 1-Mar-2005
The defendant had offered for sale by auction recently discovered works of Rachmaninoff. The claimants, descendants of the composer asserted ownership through his estate. The defendants refused to identify the seller.
Held: The claim should . .
Cited – Iran v The Barakat Galleries Ltd QBD 29-Mar-2007
The claimant government sought the return to it of historical artefacts in the possession of the defendants. The defendant said the claimant could not establish title and that if it could the title under which the claim was made was punitive and not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Limitation, Torts – Other
Updated: 15 May 2022; Ref: scu.80941