Natural Justice and the “Warned Off” Bookmaker

DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1963.tb00722.x
Published date01 July 1963
Date01 July 1963
NATURAL
,JUSTICE
AND
THE
WARNED
OFF
BOOKMAKER
IN
the course
of
a note on the case of
Byrne
v.
Kinematograph
Renters
Society,
Ltd.,I
which dealt with the right of a person
penalised by an association of which he is not a member, to claim
relief from the courts, the following comment appeared:
It
is
still perhaps not too late for our much-vaunted common law
system to prove its inherent capacity to confront fresh tasks in a
constructive spirit and indeed the courts in some other common
law jurisdictions have already pointed the way. But the scope
for future development appears very limited
so
long as the juris-
diction remains tied to a thoroughly artificial nexus of contract.”
The
Full
Court of the Supreme Court of British Guiana, in a
most interesting recent judgment,$ has now given a further lead
in this matter, which again illustrates the enterprising character
of at least some Commonwealth courts in regarding the principles
of
common
law and equity as more than a mere static collection
of rules incapable of development
to
meet new social needs.
As
this
judgment may otherwise escape the attention of lawyers in this
country
it
is therefore thought that a short reference
to
it
in
this
Review
might be appropriate.
The facts
of
the case were of an involved nature, but an attempt
will
be made here to summarise these briefly. The plaintiff,
Mr.
Phsng, ran
a
pool betting business
on
races run in British Guiana
and elsewhere, and also owned racehorses in England which com-
peted
on
English courses controlled by the Jockey Club in England.
An acrimonious dispute had arisen between
Mr.
Phang and the
Turf Club, a company registered in British Guiana to perform
functions similar to those
of
the Jockey Club in England. The
details of this dispute are not directly relevant here and
it
will
sdce to refer only to its final stage, which consisted in the
delivery of a letter by
Mr.
Phang to the Turf Club which, rightly
or
wrongly, aroused a good deal of animosity
on
the part of the
Directors and Stewards of the Club. Accordingly, the Directors
and Stewards then and there decided to declare
Mr.
Phang
a
warned
off
person and proceeded to distribute notices to this
effect to all concerned, including the Jockey Club in England.
Under the reciprocal arrangements which exist between that Club
1
[19581 1
W.L.R.
762.
a
Dem&
Turf
Club,
Ltd.
v.
Phang
(1961).
2
(1958) 21
M.L.R.
661, 667-668.
I
would like to express my thanks
to Mr. Clarence
A.
F.
Hughes, Barrister-at-Law,
of
British Guiana, for
drawing my attention to this decision and
for
supplying me with transcripts
of
the judgments
of
both
the Supreme Court and
of
the Court
of
Appeal.
412

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