The court was asked whether the Clyde Navigation Consolidation Act 1858 required dues to be paid on logs which were chained together and floated down the River Clyde. The evidence was that these dues had been levied and paid without protest for a quarter of a century.
Held: Lord Watson said: ‘When there are ambiguous expressions in an Act passed one or two centuries ago, it may be legitimate to refer to the construction put upon these expressions throughout a long course of years by the unanimous consent of all parties interested as evidencing what must presumably have been the intention of the Legislature at that remote period.’ Lord Blackburn commented that this raised a strong prima facie ground for thinking that there must exist some legal ground for exacting the dues.
Judges:
Lord Watson
Citations:
(1883) 8 App Cas 658
Statutes:
Clyde Navigation Consolidation Act 1858
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Cited by:
Cited – Lord Advocate v Walker Trustees HL 1912
The 1707 Act preserved the traditional offices in Scotland. The respondent held the position of Usher of the White Rod, and claimed his fees from those granted honours by the English parliament.
Held: The Act was clear. The fact that had been . .
Cited – Dayani v London Borough of Bromley TCC 25-Nov-1999
LA Tenant liable for permissive waste
The local authority was tenant of properties which it sub-licensed to homeless persons for three years was liable for having allowed the properties to deteriorate. It was claimed that they were liable for permissive waste as tenants for a fixed . .
Cited – Bloomsbury International Ltd v Sea Fish Industry Authority and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs SC 15-Jun-2011
The 1995 Regulations imposed a levy on fish both caught and first landed in the UK and also on imported fish products. The claimants, importers challenged the validity of the latter charges, saying that they went beyond the power given by the 1981 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.196752