English Conflict of Laws and Italian Social Security Legislation
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1965.tb02912.x |
| Author | P. R. H. Webb |
| Published date | 01 September 1965 |
| Date | 01 September 1965 |
SEI’T.
1965
NOTES
OF
CASES
591
It
must be presumed that the defendants’ claim to remuneration
arises by way of corollary to the duty to account, and not as an
independent right. English law is in general loath to allow
recompense to fiduciaries in the absence of express agreement,
or
to
allow
claims
for
remuneration
by
intermeddlers.
Thirdly, the liability
of
a fiduciary to account where he has made
use of confidential information is
of
particular interest at a time
when possibilities of developing legal rules to protect against misuse
of secrets are in the air.
It
has recently been demonstrated that
the courts have preventive powers to restrain breaches of confidence
by injunction even where there is no breach of contractual obliga-
tion.14
If
there is to develop a corresponding right of action after the
abuse has occurred, then it
is
submitted that it should be put on the
ground that a person entrusted with confidential information who
misuses it for his own benefit should be bound to hand over his profit
to prevent an unjust enrichment. The man who made money by
publishing his wife’s dark secrets would thereby become bound to
give over his gains to her. An analysis
in
restitutionary terms has
the advantage of avoiding difficulties inherent in creating a cause of
action that is either proprietary
or
tortious in character.
W.
R.
CORNISH.
ENOIJSII
CONFLICT
OF
LAWS
AND
ITALIAN
SOCIAL SECURITY
LEGISLATION
The
dcru,r
affords
an
unusual example of an English conflict of
laws case involving foreign social security legislation. The facts
were very simple:
The
Acrm
had been sold in May
1961
under an
crder of the English Admiralty Court. She was still flying the
Italian
flag
at the time. Her owners were in default to the tune of
EG,850
in respect of unpaid insurance contributions for her officers
and crew.
In order to understand the case better, details must be given of
the relevant Italian law. The Italian government created under
Italian law a corporate body, the Cassa Nazionale Della Providenza
Marinara, for the
nd
hoc
purpose of carrying out the governmental
funct,ion
of
providing social insurance benefits to,
i,nter
alios,
seamen
of
all ranks employed in vessels registered in Italy. This company
was the plaintiff
in
the present case. Italian legislation required
owners of such ships to pay insurance contributions to this company.
Employers were personally responsible to the company not only
for
their own statutory contributions but also, just as in England, for
those of their employees. Should contributions not be paid to the
rlirrct an enquiry what
wm
is proper
to
he
allo\ved
to
the
first
and second
defendants
in
rehpect
of
their
work
and
skill
in obtaining the shares
in
the
company mentioned in the statement
of
claim and the profit in respect
t’hereof
”:
[I9641
I
W.L.R.
093
at
p.
1018;
[1964]
2
All
E.R.
187
at p.
208.
1.a
Printers
and
Finishers
IAd.
V.
Holloway
[I0651
1
W.L.R.
1;
[1964]
3
All
E.R.
731;
Arqyrz
V.
~7gYzz
rim]
2
W.L.R.
790;
[i9651
1
AII
E.R.
611.
1
[~HWJ
3
W.L.R.
80;
rig651
2
AH
E.R.
323.
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