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 to be applied by English law.
Held: It is necessary for a claimant suing in conversion or for wrongful interference with his goods to establish the existence of a proprietary right in the goods. The claimant was unable to do this, because no explicit provision of Iranian law had been demonstrated to establish a claim.
There would be no infringement of the principle governing justiciability if the English Court were to enforce a proprietary claim by a foreign sovereign state in relation to movables acquired by that State (whether by purchase, bequest, gift or as bona vacantia) at a time when the movables were within the territory of that state. However this claim was not a patrimonial claim
Judges:
Gray J
Citations:
[2007] EWHC 705 (QB)
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rosenthal v Alderton and Sons Limited CA 1946
The court was asked as to how it should value goods which had disappeared, and where the plaintiff sought damages for their wrongful detention, either as at the date of the detention or as at the date of the judgment.
Held: Damages for detinue . .
Cited – Iran v Berend QBD 1-Feb-2007
The Republic of Iran sought the return of a fragment of ancient Achaemenid relief in the possession of the defendant, saying that it was part of an ancient monument. The defendant said that she had bought it properly at an auction in Paris. The . .
Cited – Gotha City v Sotheby’s and Another; Federal Republic of Germany v Same QBD 9-Sep-1998
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 . .
Cited – Jarvis v Williams CA 1955
J, the owner of the goods, sued in detinue the defendant W to whom they had been delivered at the request of a third party, P, who had failed to pay for them. W refused to deliver up the goods.
Held: The claim was not maintainable. Lord . .
Cited – International Factors v Rodriguez CA 1978
(Majority) Cheques were made payable to a company which had entered into a factoring agreement with the plaintiffs. The cheques were sent to the company in settlement of debts owed to the company but which had been assigned to the plaintiffs. The . .
Cited – MCC Proceeds Inc (Incorporated Under the Laws of the State of Delaware, USA As Trustee of the Maxwell Macmillan Realization Liquidating Trust) v Lehman Brothers International (Europe) CA 19-Dec-1997
The owner only of an equitable interest in goods may not assert his interest against a bona fide purchaser of the legal title to the goods. International Factors v. Rodriguez was decided per incuriam to the extent that it held that equitable rights . .
Cited – 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 – Surrey Asset Finance Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc QBD 30-Nov-2000
That a cheque was endorsed ‘account payee’ did not mean that the drawer of the cheque would be entitled to damages for conversion from a paying bank crediting it to a different account. to succeed under this section the claimant had to show an . .
Cited – Aksionairnoye Obschestvo A M Luther v James Sagor and Co CA 1921
A claim was made as to property seized by a decree of Russian revolutionaries later recognised as the government.
Held: A court is required to recognise a foreign state’s dealings with private proprietary rights within its jurisdiction. An . .
Cited – Wisconsin v Pelican Insurance Co 1888
(United States Supreme Court) The court considered the rules forbidding the application of foreign penal laws: ‘The rule that the courts of no country execute the penal laws of another applies, not only to prosecutions and sentences for crimes and . .
Cited – Princess Olga v Weisz 1929
Recovery was sought of items where the possessor claimed title through the Soviet State.
Held: The claim failed. the court recognised that the Soviet Republic had acquired good title to the movables in question (as well as possession of them), . .
Cited – Mbasogo, President of the State of Equatorial Guinea and Another v Logo Ltd and others CA 23-Oct-2006
Foreign Public Law Not Enforceable Here
The claimant alleged a conspiracy by the defendants for his overthrow by means of a private coup d’etat. The defendants denied that the court had jurisdiction. The claimants appealed dismissal of their claim to damages.
Held: The claims were . .
Cited – Huntington v Attrill HL 1893
In deciding how to characterise a claim, the court must examine its substance, and not be misled by appearances. The territorial principle requires attention to be paid to the place where the act was committed. The court defined what was meant by a . .
Cited – Attorney-General of New Zealand v Ortiz CA 2-Jan-1982
The defendant was to sell a Maori carving which had been unlawfully exported from New Zealand. The Attorney General sought its recovery and an injunction to prevent its sale, relying on the Historical Articles Act 1962. The judge had ordered its . .
Cited – Government of India v Taylor HL 1955
The Government of India sought to prove in the voluntary liquidation of a company registered in the United Kingdom but trading in India for a sum due in respect of Indian income tax, including capital gains tax, which arose on the sale of the . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Islamic Republic of Iran v The Barakat Galleries Ltd CA 21-Dec-2007
The republic appealed the striking out of its claims for the return of artefacts which formed part of its national heritage and were alleged to have been unlawfully removed.
Held: The claim was not an attempt to apply a foreign penal law. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Torts – Other, International
Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.254514