The plaintiffs sought recovery of moneys paid by the defendants to one George Thomas Richardson Campbell, a distinguished naval architect on the ground that such payments has been made secretly while Mr Campbell has been acting for the plaintiffs in the negotiation of shipbuilding contracts with the defendants.
Held: Leggatt J said: ‘For the purposes of the civil law a bribe means the payment of a secret commission, which only means (i) that the person making the payment makes it to the agent of the other person with whom he is dealing; (ii) that he makes it to that person knowing that that person is acting as the agent of the other person with whom he is dealing; and (iii) that he fails to disclose to the other person with whom he is dealing that he has made the payment to the person whom he knows to be the other person’s agent.’
Judges:
Leggatt J
Citations:
[1990] 1 Lloyd’s Reports 167
Citing:
Cited – Hovenden and Sons v Millhoff 1900
Romer LJ said: ‘The courts of law in this country have always strongly condemned and, when they could, punished the bribing of agents, and have taken a strong view as to what constitutes a bribe. I believe the mercantile community as a whole . .
Cited by:
Cited – Tesco Stores Limited v Pook, Pook, Universal Projects (UK) Limited ChD 14-Apr-2003
A trustee in breach of his duty has a duty to disclose that breach. It was alleged that the defendants, including a director of the claimant, had submitted false invoices to the claimants, and purchased property with the resulting profits.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Agency, Torts – Other
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.194864