Sumner v William Henderson & Sons Ltd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | LORD JUSTICE SELLERS,LORD JUSTICE RUSSELL |
| Judgment Date | 22 May 1963 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1963] EWCA Civ J0522-2 |
| Court | Court of Appeal |
| Date | 22 May 1963 |
[1963] EWCA Civ J0522-2
Lord Justice Sellers
Lord Justice Donovan and
Lord Justice Russell
In The Supreme Court of Judicature
Court of Appeal
(From: Mr. Justice Phillimore — Middlesex)
Mr. J. M. DAVIES, Q. C. and Mr. R. J. H. COLLIHSON Messrs. Lawrence Graham & Co., Agents for Messrs. Weightman & Pedder, Liverpool) appeared on behalf of the Appllants (Defendants).
Mr. RICHARD BINGHAM, Q. C. and Mr. GERARD WRIGHT (instructed by Messrs. Mace & Jones, Liverpool) appeared on behalf of the Respondent (Plaintiff).
At the outset of this appeal the Court expressed doubts as to the desirability and value of the procedure which has been adopted by the Special Case submitted at the request of both the parties and even as to its propriety of seeking the opinion of the Court on what seemed to be no more, or little more, than a consultative case on points of law.
The action arises out of a disastrous fire at the defendants' store in Liverpool in June, 1960, in which the plaintiff's wife lost her life on the fourth floor of the premises where she was employed by the defendants as a restaurant supervisor. The origin of the fire has not been agreed between the parties, has not yet been investigated and found by the Court, and may ultimately be incapable of being established.
The defendants' premises had been substantially enlarged and were in general use for the defendants' business although some work still remained to be done. Some workmen of the builders were still engaged on the premises, as were workmen of different sub-contractors doing electrical and heating and ventilation work. The defendants had employed experienced and highly qualified architects for the building and also competent and skilled consultant electrical engineers. The builders and all sub-contractors were likewise competent and skilled.
The particular allegations in the Statement of Claim to which the Special Case refers are with regard to the electrical installation and with regard to the construction of the building. By paragraph 9 of the Special Case "The Court is asked for the purposes of this Special Case to assume the truth of each of the allegations of the Plaintiff and the Defendants set out in paragraphs 5, 6, 7 and 8 hereof", which are extracts from the respective pleadings, the Statement of Claim and the Defense.
No facts are admitted, and any fault or negligence of the defendants or of any of those engaged by them to do the work is denied. The Court is asked on the assumptions it has to make, in effect, whether the defendants would be liable assuming that therewas a negligent act or omission, which caused the death of the plaintiff's wife, on the part of the architects, the builders, the consulting electrical engineers or the sub-contractors for the electrical work.
Paragraph 11 of the Case is as follows: "The Court is asked to consider each of the foregoing questions and in respect of any such question which it may decide should be answered in the negative to order that the Plaintiff may not adduce at the trial of the action any evidence...
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