The Kenyan and British authorities agreed for the building by the plaintiff of a bridge supported by the imposition of tolls. Btitish military were exempt from payment. At the time of the agreement there was only one unit of military, but as time went on more troops arrived, and the bulk of the traffic was exempt. The bridge owner challenged the arrangement in Britain.
Held: The term ‘military’ included all soldiers of the Queen and was not restricted to the original detachment. It remained a military vehicle when driven by a military driver on duty. However, construing the agreement, a toll became payable in certain limited circumstances.
The task of making qualifications to English law to suit the circumstances of overseas territories called for wisdom on the part of their judges. This was a ‘wise provision.’
As to the application of the common law in a foreign jurisdiction, the court recogised the wisdom of applying the common law qualified as necessary to suit local circumstances: ‘Just as with an English oak, so with the English common law. You cannot transplant it to the African continent and expect it to retain the tough character which it has in England.’
Judges:
Lord Denning
Citations:
[1956] 1 QB 1
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Christian and others v The Queen PC 30-Oct-2006
(The Pitcairn Islands) The defendants appealed convictions for assorted sexual offences against underage girls. They denied that the laws under which they were convicted had applied to the Pitcairn Islands.
Held: The appeals against conviction . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional, Land, Armed Forces
Updated: 31 July 2022; Ref: scu.245767
