NAZI SPOLIATION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1950.tb00162.x |
| Date | 01 April 1950 |
| Author | F. A. Mann |
| Published date | 01 April 1950 |
NAZI SPOLIATION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
THE
discussion of a decision of the House of Lords performs a
useful .function only if the reviewer constantly bears in mind that
no
appeal lies to a Law Review, and 'that, therefore, he must
primarily regard
it
as his task to ascertain the extent to which the
House
of
Lords has actually stated the law, how far the decision
rests on its peculiar facts and what attitude future generations are
likely to adopt towards it. From this point of view the recent
decision of the House of Lords in
Kahler
v.
illidland
Bank,
Ltd.
[1950]
A.C.
24,
and its companion decision,
Zivnostenska
Banka
V.
Prankinan
[1950]
A.C.
57,
present great difficulties.
The plaintiff in the former case, was the undisputed owner of
bearer securities deposited with the defendant bank and originally
held
by
it for the Zivnostenska Bank who were the plaintiff's
bankers in Prague and with whom he stood in the ordinary relation-
&hip of banker and customer. Towards the middle
of
March,
1989,
the Germans occupied Prague. The plaintiff, 'who is of Jewish
race, became
a
victim of their persecutions
',l
and 'the price of
exile that was extorted from him was the transfer of all the
securities that he possessed to the Bohemian Bank
',2
who, in the
defendant's words, were
'
then under the control
or
domination of
the Germans and themselves held the said shares to an account
called
f'
Vermogensamt
')
for the German authorities
'.3
This was
brought about by a written agreement of March
29,
1939,
between
the plaintiff and the Bohemian Bank. On April
1,
1989,
the plain-
tiff left Czechoslovakia and went to France. On April
17,
1939,
the Zivnostenska Bank requested the defendants to hold the plain-
tiff's securities in future for the Bohemian Bank, and added
:
'
This
transfer
is
made by order and for account of the owner of these
shares, Mr. Victor Kahler.
. .
.
The ownership of the above shares
remains unchanged
'.
On
May
11,
1989,
the defendants acknow-
ledged receipt stating
:
'
Owner
:
Mr. Victor Kahler
'.
On July
26,
1989,
the plaintiff wrote to Zivnostenska Bank determining their
authority to hold his securities and sent a copy to the defendants.
On
July
28, 1989,
he issued a writ against them for possession.
Their main defence was that Czechoslovakian exchange restrictions
made it illegal for their bailors, the Bohemian Bank,
Po
release the
securities to the plaintiff.
In November,
1948,
the decision of the Court of Appeal which
had dismissed the action and whose decision was reviewed at
(1948)
1
At
p.
SO,
per
Lord
Normend.
f
At
p.
64.
per
Lord Radcliffe.
a
Paragraph
11
of
the
defendants' Case in
the
Record.
206
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