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Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society v Krausz & Anor [1996] EWCA Civ 780 (22nd October, 1996)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1996/780.html
Cite as:
(1997) 29 HLR 597,
[1996] EWCA Civ 780,
[1997] 1 WLR 1558,
[1997] WLR 1558,
29 HLR 597
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CHELTENHAM & GLOUCESTER BUILDING SOCIETY v. AARON KRAUSZ and REBECCA KRAUSZ [1996] EWCA Civ 780 (22nd October, 1996)
IN
THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE
CCRTI
95/1501/H
IN
THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
FC3
96/7161/H
ON
APPEAL FROM THE SHOREDITCH COUNTY COURT
(HIS
HONOUR JUDGE BARRY GREEN QC
)
Royal
Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2
Tuesday,
22nd October 1996
B
e f o r e:
LORD
JUSTICE BUTLER-SLOSS
LORD
JUSTICE MILLETT
LORD
JUSTICE PHILLIPS
-
- - - - -
CHELTENHAM
& GLOUCESTER BUILDING SOCIETY
Plaintiff/Appellant
-
v -
(1)
AARON KRAUSZ
(2)
REBECCA KRAUSZ
Defendants/Respondents
-
- - - - -
(Computer
Aided Transcript of the Palantype Notes of
Smith
Bernal Reporting Limited, 180 Fleet Street,
London
EC4A 2HD
Tel:
0171 831 3183
Official
Shorthand Writers to the Court)
-
- - - - -
MISS
KATHRYN PURKIS
(Instructed by Messrs Church Adams Tatham & Co. London, WC1V 6RH) appeared
on behalf of the Appellant
MR.
H. J. SMITH
(Instructed by Messrs Bude Nathan Iwanier, London, NW11 0QN) appeared on behalf
of the Respondents
J
U D G M E N T
(As
approved by the Court
)
©Crown
Copyright
LORD
JUSTICE PHILLIPS:
This
appeal raises an important issue as to the extent of the jurisdiction of the
Court to suspend a warrant for possession of a dwelling house.
The
Facts
On
the 30th January 1987 the Guardian Building Society, whose rights the
Plaintiffs have inherited, lent to the Defendants ("the Mortgagors")
£58,300, secured by a mortgage on their home, 8 Springhill, Clapton,
London, E5 ("the property"). I shall refer to the Plaintiffs and to their
predecessors in title as "the Mortgagees". On the 12th February 1990 a
possession action was commenced by the Mortgagees against the Mortgagors, who
had defaulted on their repayment obligations. On the 25th July 1991 an order
for possession was made. On four occasions warrants for possession were
issued. On each occasion an accommodation was reached between the Mortgagors
and the Mortgagees, under which the warrant was discharged. On each occasion
the terms of that accommodation were breached by the Mortgagors and a fresh
warrant was issued. The fifth warrant fell due to execution on the 12th June
1995.
On
the 23rd February 1995 the Mortgagors obtained a written valuation of their
home from a firm of chartered surveyors, who reported:
Although
the area could be considered reasonably popular, this particular house is in
such a poor state of repair needing a substantial amount of money spent on it,
that we are of the opinion that its current value is no more than £65,000.
We ought to point out that should the property be offered at auction we doubt
whether it would reach that level.
The
Mortgagors then contacted the MYA Charitable Trust. This Trust purchases
properties from owners who are facing dispossession and then lets the
properties to them. The Trust offered to buy 8 Springhill from the Mortgagors
for £65,000 on this basis. The Mortgagees were not prepared to agree to
this sale. They considered that the property had a value of about
£90,000, based on what has been described as a "drive-by" valuation.
On
the 7th April 1995 the Mortgagors informed the Mortgagees that they intended to
apply for an Order that the property be sold, pursuant to Section 91(2) of the
Law of Property Act 1925 ("LPA"), and requested the Mortgagees to agree to this
application being made to the County Court. On the 18th April 1995 the
Mortgagees refused their consent. On the 9th June the Mortgagors applied to
District Judge Silverdale for :
(1)
An Order suspending the Warrant for Possession on the grounds that the
Defendants have found a purchaser for their property and will apply to the High
Court of Justice for an Order pursuant to Section 91(2) of the Law of Property
Act 1925.
By
this time arrears had grown to the extent that the total mortgage debt amounted
to some £83,000. The District Judge dismissed their application. The
same afternoon they appealed to Judge Green Q.C. on short notice. He allowed
their appeal and ordered a stay of execution of the warrant for possession
pending an application which the Mortgagors undertook to make promptly to the
High Court under Section 91(2) of the LPA. Against that Order the Mortgagees
now appeal, with the leave of this Court. The appeal is resisted solely by the
Second Defendant. Mr. Krausz has been declared bankrupt and his trustee makes
no claim to any interest in the property.
There
were two issues before Judge Green. The first was whether he had jurisdiction
to suspend the warrant for possession. The second was, if he had such
jurisdiction, whether in his discretion he should exercise it. Before us the
primary argument advanced by the Mortgagees was that the Judge had no
jurisdiction to suspend the warrant. Alternatively, the Mortgagees have sought
to challenge the manner in which the Judge exercised his discretion. So far as
the latter issue is concerned the Judge was anxious to evaluate the strength of
the Mortgagors' contention, supported by their valuation, that the market value
of the property was £65,000. He offered the Mortgagees a short
adjournment to enable them to obtain a valuation in support of their contention
that the property had a higher value. They declined this offer. In these
circumstances the Judge concluded that it was appropriate, if he had the
jurisdiction, to suspend the warrant for possession pending the determination
of an application by the Mortgagors under Section 91(2). He went on to decide,
not without some reservations, that he had jurisdiction to take this course.
On
the 31st August 1995 the Mortgagors issued an Originating Summons in the
Chancery Court claiming an Order that the property be sold to the Trust,
pursuant to the power of the Court conferred by Section 91(2). Directions were
given on the 15th November 1995 as a result of which the Action was transferred
to the Shoreditch County Court on the 20th March 1996. That Court has not yet
provided a hearing date, perhaps because the result of this appeal has been
awaited.
On
the 26th June 1995 the Mortgagees obtained a valuation of the property for the
purposes of the Section 91 proceedings. On the day of the hearing of this
Appeal the Mortgagees sought leave to adduce this by way of further evidence.
We refused their application. It did not seem to us that the Mortgagees,
having declined the opportunity to place such evidence before the Judge, could
properly seek to improve their case by putting it before us at the very last
moment.
With
this introduction I turn to consider the principal issue raised by this appeal,
the question of jurisdiction.
The
Law
This
appeal requires consideration of the inter-relationship of two areas of the law
relating to the mortgage of a dwelling house:
(1) The
circumstances in which the mortgagor is entitled to an order for the sale of
the mortgaged property;
(2) The
circumstances in which the Court has jurisdiction to suspend entry into
possession of the dwelling house by the mortgagee.
Mortgagor's
Right of Sale
S.91
of the Law of Property Act 1925 ("LPA") provides as follows:
(1) Any
person entitled to redeem mortgaged property may have a judgment or order for
sale instead of for redemption in an action brought by him either for
redemption alone, or for sale alone, or for sale or redemption in the
alternative.
(2) In
any action, whether for foreclosure, or for redemption, or for sale, or for the
raising and payment in any manner of mortgage money, the court, on the request
of the mortgagee, or of any person interested either in the mortgage money or
in the right of redemption, and, notwithstanding that-
(a) any
other person dissents; or
(b) the
mortgagee or any person so interested does not appear in the action;
and
without allowing any time for redemption or for payment of any mortgage money,
may direct a sale of the mortgaged property, on such terms as it thinks fit,
including the deposit in court of a reasonable sum fixed by the court to meet
the expenses of sale and to secure performance of the terms.
The
origin and history of these provisions are described by Sir Donald Nicholls,
V.C. in
Palk
v Mortgage Services Funding Plc
[1993] Ch.330 at p.335. The Vice Chancellor also cited the statement of Lord
Jessel, M.R. about the essentially identical provisions of Section 25(2) of the
Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1881:
The
Act is a remedial Act, one effect of it being to allow a mortgagor whose
property is worth more than the mortgage-money, but who cannot raise it, to
obtain a sale and get the benefit of the surplus.
Union
Bank of London v Ingram
(1882) 20 CHD 463 at p.464. Until
Palk
it was the practice of the Chancery Court only to entertain an application for
sale by the Mortgagor if the proceeds of sale were expected to be sufficient to
discharge the entirety of the mortgage debt. In such circumstances the
mortgagor might initiate proceedings by bringing an action for sale under
S.91(1), or, if the mortgagee sought to foreclose, the mortgagor could apply
for an order for sale in place of foreclosure. The practice thus reflected the
heading to S.91: Sale of mortgaged property in action for redemption or
foreclosure.
Palk
established, for the first time, that the Court has power under Section 91(2)
to make an order for sale on the application of a Mortgagor, notwithstanding
that the proceeds of sale will be insufficient to discharge the mortgage debt.
In
Palk
the mortgagees had obtained an Order for possession with the intention, not of
proceeding to sell the property but of waiting in the hope that the market
might improve. The mortgagor was anxious that the property should be sold so
that the proceeds would reduce the mortgage debt, on which interest was
accruing at an alarming rate. The Court of Appeal held that, as the mortgagees
could buy the property themselves if they wished to speculate on an increase in
its value, in the interests of fairness the property should be sold.
In
Palk
the Mortgagor had initially applied for an order for sale to the Eastbourne
County Court. It is not clear on what basis that Court entertained the claim,
for the jurisdiction of the County Court to make an order for sale is limited
to cases where the value of the property does not exceed £30,000. It also
appears from the judgment in the Court of Appeal that the mortgagees obtained
an order for possession, which was suspended pending the result of their
application. It is not clear which Court made the order for possession, or
which court suspended that order. What does seem clear is that no challenge
was made of the jurisdiction to suspend the possession order.
In
Palk
the issue was simply whether or not the property should be sold. No issue
arose as to the terms on which it should be sold. As to that matter, Section
91(2) empowers the Court to direct a sale "on such terms as it thinks fit". In
cases before
Palk,
where the proceeds of sale were likely to exceed the mortgage debt, the Court
was prepared to entrust the sale to the mortgagor on the basis that the
mortgagor had a keener interest than the mortgagee in obtaining the best price.
We have not been referred to any case, however, where there was a contest
between the mortgagee and the mortgagor as to who should have conduct of the
sale.
Barrett
v. Halifax Building Society
(1995) 28 H.L.R. marks the next development in this area of the law, and one
which demonstrates the importance of the present appeal. In that case the
Plaintiffs had mortgaged their home and then defaulted on their repayment
obligations. The situation was one of negative equity - the mortgage debt
substantially exceeded the value of their home. On August 6th 1992 the
mortgagees obtained a possession order, with a view to exercising their power
of sale. There were numerous suspensions of this order to give the Plaintiffs
a chance to discharge the instalment arrears. What then occurred was explained
by the Judge as follows, at p.636:
"On
March 6th, 1995 there was a further suspension of the order for the purpose of
leaving mortgagors in possession of the property themselves to find a buyer
notwithstanding that there was a deficit over the sum secured so that the
property would be on the market, lived in and without it becoming known to the
market that it was subject to a forced sale, thereby increasing the
realisations available to discharge at least part of the amount due"
The
Plaintiffs then applied to the Chancery Court for an order for sale pursuant to
Section 91 LPA. By the time that their Action came on for hearing they had
negotiated a sale of the property, subject to contract. They sought an order
that they be permitted to proceed with that sale and to remain in possession
until completion. The Judge summarised the evidence on which they relied as
follows at p.637:
The
evidence of the plaintiffs, including the expert evidence of a valuer, is that
it is a recognised feature of today's property market that where a mortgagee
obtains possession of property and sells in the exercise of its power of sale
it is able to obtain a price which is usually not as good as the price which
might have been obtained by the mortgagor had the mortgagor remained in
possession and the fact of the forced sale not become apparent. It is also the
plaintiffs; evidence that if the mortgagee building society were to take over
the sale or were now to obtain possession and proceed to sell itself there
would be likely to be a delay of some months at least before a fresh purchaser
could be found and a sale completed.
The
Mortgagees resisted the Order sought. They did not contend that they would be
able to obtain a better price but urged that if the sale went ahead it would
break their established policy not to permit borrowers with negative equity
themselves to conduct the sale of their property without also at the same time
making proposals for the repayment of any resulting deficit. The Judge held
that this was not a material circumstance which he ought to take into account
when exercising his discretion. He held at p. 640:
I
am left, therefore, with a case which, on the evidence before me, there is no
discernible advantage to the building society in refusing to allow this sale to
complete, whereas there is an obvious advantage to the mortgagors to complete
their proposed sale at what is accepted as the best price that is likely to be
obtainable in the current market.
He
proceeded to grant the Plaintiffs the Order that they sought.
Just
as in the case of
Palk
the report does not suggest that in
Barrett
any challenge was made by the mortgagees to the order suspending possession
pending the Plaintiffs' application to the Chancery Court.
The
consequences of the procedure followed in
Barrett
appear to me to be far reaching. In any case in which there is negative equity
it will be open to the mortgagor to resist an order for possession on the
ground that he wishes to obtain a better price by remaining in possession and
selling the property himself. In not every case will the primary motive for
such an application be the wish to obtain a better price than that which the
mortgagee is likely to obtain on a forced sale. Often the mortgagor will be
anxious to postpone for as long as possible the evil day when he has to leave
his home. This Court has ample experience of hopeless applications for leave
to appeal against possession orders designed to achieve just that end. There
will be a danger, if the mortgagee does not obtain possession, that the
mortgagor will delay the realisation of the property by seeking too high a
price, or deliberately procrastinating on completion. At present there is a
simple procedure for seeking possession in the County Court and the issue tends
to be whether there are arrears and whether the mortgagor is likely to be able
to discharge these in a reasonable time. If possession is to be suspended
whenever this appears reasonable in order to give mortgagors the opportunity to
sell the property themselves, the Courts are going to have to enter into an
area of difficult factual enquiry in order to decide in the individual case
whether or not this course will be to the common benefit of mortgagor and
mortgagee. Furthermore there will be obvious practical difficulties for
mortgagees in monitoring the negotiations of mortgagors who are permitted time
to market their properties.
For
these reasons it seems to me that the procedure followed and the decision
reached in
Barrett
tend fundamentally to undermine the value of the mortgagee's entitlement to
possession.
Having
touched on the implications of the issue raised in this case I turn to consider
whether, in law, the County Court has jurisdiction to suspend possession in
such circumstances.
Suspension
of Possession
The
right of a mortgagee to enter into possession of the mortgaged property was one
which the common law protected strictly. The position was accurately stated by
Russell J. in
Birmingham
Citizens Permanent Building Society v. Caunt
[1962] 1 Ch. 883 at p. 912:
Accordingly,
in my judgment, where (as here) the legal mortgagee under an instalment
mortgage under which by reason of default the whole money has become payable,
is entitled to possession, the court has no jurisdiction to decline the order
or to adjourn the hearing whether on terms of keeping up payments or paying
arrears, if the mortgagee cannot be persuaded to agree to this course. To this
the
sole
exception
is that the application may be adjourned for a short time to afford to the
mortgagor a chance of paying off the mortgagee in full or otherwise satisfying
him; but this should not be done if there is no reasonable prospect of this
occurring. When I say the sole exception, I do not, of course, intend to
exclude adjournments which in the ordinary course of procedure may be desirable
in circumstances such as temporary inability of a party to attend, and so forth.
The
rigours of the common law in this respect were mitigated by Section 36 of the
Administration of Justice Act 1970 ("AJA"), which provided:
(1) Where
the mortgagee under a mortgage of land which consists of or includes a
dwelling-house brings an action in which he claims possession of the mortgaged
property, not being an action for foreclosure in which a claim for possession
of the mortgaged property is also made, the court may exercise any of the
powers conferred on it by subsection (2) below if it appears to the court that
in the event of its exercising the power the mortgagor is likely to be able
within a reasonable period to pay any sums due under the mortgage or to remedy
a default consisting of a breach of any other obligation arising under or by
virtue of the mortgage.
(2) The
court-
(a) may
adjourn the proceedings, or
(b) on
giving judgment, or making an order, for delivery of possession of the
mortgaged property, or at any time before the execution of such judgment or
order, may-
(i) stay
or suspend execution of the judgment or order, or
(ii) postpone
the date for delivery of possession,
for
such period or periods as the court thinks reasonable.
It
seems likely that the draughtsman of this section intended to confer on the
Court power to suspend possession where the mortgagor was in a position to pay
arrears of instalments within a reasonable period. He overlooked the fact that
most mortgages provide for the principal to become immediately payable if
instalments are in arrears. It was held in
Halifax
Building Society v. Clark
[1973] Ch.307 that in that event, the Court was only given power to suspend if
it appeared that the mortgagor would be able within a reasonable time to repay
the total mortgage debt. To reverse the effect of this decision Section 36 was
amended by Section 8(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1973, which
provided:
8
Extension of powers of court in action by mortgagee of dwelling-house
(1) Where
by a mortgage of land which consists of or includes a dwelling-house, or by any
agreement between the mortgagee under such a mortgage and the mortgagor, the
mortgagor is entitled or is to be permitted to pay the principal sum secured by
instalments or otherwise to defer payment of it in whole or in part, but
provision is also made for earlier payment in the event of any default by the
mortgagor or of a demand by the mortgagee or otherwise, then for purposes of
section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 (under which a court has
power to delay giving a mortgagee possession of the mortgaged property so as to
allow the mortgagor a reasonable time to pay any sums due under the mortgage) a
court may treat as due under the mortgage on account of the principal sum
secured and of interest on it only such amounts as the mortgagor would have
expected to be required to pay if there had been no such provision for earlier
payment.
(2) A
court shall not exercise by virtue of subsection (1) above the powers conferred
by section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 unless it appears to
the court not only that the mortgagor is likely to be able within a reasonable
period to pay any amounts regarded (in accordance with subjection (1) above) as
due on account of the principal sum secured, together with the interest on
those amounts, but also that he is likely to be able by the end of that period
to pay any further amounts that he would have expected to be required to pay by
then on account of that sum and of interest on it if there had been no such
provision as is referred to in subsection (1) above for earlier payment.
The
effect of Section 36, as amended, on the power to suspend possession is as
follows:
(1) The
power can be exercised to enable the mortgagor to pay off instalment arrears
due under the mortgage agreement from sources other than the sale of the
mortgaged property, but
(2) If
the mortgagor intends to sell the mortgaged property to provide the source of
payment, the Court must be satisfied that the proceeds will be sufficient to
discharge the entirety of the mortgage debt:
Royal
Trust Co. of Canada v Markham
[1975] 1WLR 1416;
National
and Provincial Building Society v Lloyd
[1966] 1 All ER 630.
Before
the decision in
Palk
it seemed that Section 36 AJA and Section 91 LPA were complementary. An
application under Section 91 would only be contemplated where the proceeds of
sale were expected to exceed the mortgage debt. In these circumstances Section
36 gave the Court the power to suspend possession in order to enable an
application for sale under Section 91 to be made. It is, however, quite clear
that Section 36 does not empower the Court to suspend possession in order to
permit the mortgagor to sell the mortgaged premises where the proceeds of sale
will not suffice to discharge the mortgage debt, unless of course other funds
will be available to the mortgagor to make up the shortfall.
A
mortgagor seeking relief in the circumstances of
Palk
is thus unable to invoke any statutory power to suspend the mortgagee's right
to enter into possession.
For
the mortgagors, Mr. Smith argued that the provisions of S.36 did not define
exclusively the jurisdiction of the Court to suspend possession. The Section
was accurately headed "Additional powers of court in action by mortgagee for
possession of dwelling-house" The Court enjoyed in addition a power to suspend
possession as part of its inherent jurisdiction. He referred us to the general
statement or principle, albeit in a criminal context, of Lord Morris of
Borth-y-Gest in
Connelly
v DPP
[1964] A.C. 1254 at 1301:
There
can be no doubt that a court which is endowed with a particular jurisdiction
has powers which are necessary to enable it to act effectively within such
jurisdiction. I would regard them as powers which are inherent in its
jurisdiction. A court must enjoy such powers in order to enforce its rules of
practice and to suppress any abuses of its process and to defeat any attempted
thwarting of its process.
Mr
Smith elaborated his argument as follows:
On
an application by a mortgagor for sale under Section 91 LPA the Court has power
to order that the mortgagor be entrusted with the sale and that he remain in
possession while effecting the sale:
Barrett.
Should the mortgagee attempt to frustrate such an Order by entering into
possession, the Court seized of the Section 91 application must have an
inherent power to restrain him from doing so. In these circumstances, the
County Court must also have an inherent power to suspend an order or warrant
for possession, at least for such short period as is necessary to enable the
mortgagor to make a Section 91 application.
In
my judgment this argument breaks down at a number of stages.
In
Royal
Trust Co. v. Markham
Sir John Pennycuick, when delivering the leading judgment of this Court cited
with approval the passage from the judgment of Russell J. in
Caunt
which I have myself cited above. He then said at p.1420:
"A
characteristic instance in which that sole exception is applicable is where the
mortgagor has entered into, or is about to enter into, a contract for the sale
of the property at a price which will enable the mortgage to be paid off in
full...
So,
as the law stood before 1970, the mortgagee had a right, subject only to that
one exception mentioned by Russell J., to possession, and it was not in the
power of the court to refuse him possession."
Megaw
L.J. added at p. 1423 :
There
was, as I think is clear, no power, before the enactment of section 36 of the
Administration of Justice Act 1970, for a court to grant a stay or suspension
of execution of an order for possession in a mortgagee's action, such as the
present one, based on default in payment or breach of other obligations.
Therefore, if there be such power to suspend or stay the execution of the order
for possession, it can come only from the provisions of section 36 of the Act
of 1970 as amended by section 8 of the Administration of Justice Act 1973.
In
my judgment the very specific delimitation of the power given by Section 36
makes it clear that the legislature did not intend that the Court should have
any wider jurisdiction to curtail the mortgagee's right to possession. That
right enables the mortgagee to exercise his power of sale in the manner he
chooses and in the confidence that he can offer a purchaser vacant possession.
Section 36 circumscribes that right where the proceeds of sale are likely to
discharge the mortgage debt. It does not do so where the mortgage debt will
not be fully discharged, and it is in those circumstances that the mortgagee's
rights are of particular importance.
I
recognise the principle of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court, as explained
by Lord Morris in
Connelly,
but I question whether that principle can justify the Court in exercising its
power to order a sale of mortgaged property under Section 91 in circumstances
where the mortgagee is seeking to enter into possession in order to sell
property in which there is negative equity and where the sole object with which
the mortgagor seeks that order is to prevent the mortgagee exercising his right
to possession so that the mortgagor can negotiate his own sale while in
possession.
Even
if one assumes that the Chancery Court has power to order sale of mortgaged
property on terms that displace the mortgagee's right to possession, I do not
consider that it follows from this that the County Court, as part of its
inherent jurisdiction, can properly suspend an order or warrant for possession
in order to enable a mortgagor to apply to the High Court for an Order under
Section 91. It seems to me incumbent on the mortgagor to seek from the High
Court any relief which that Court is empowered to give before the possession
warrant takes effect.
In
the present case the Judge purported in 1995 to suspend a warrant for
possession that was properly issued pursuant to an order for possession made in
1991. For the reasons I have given I consider that he had no jurisdiction to
make such an Order and this appeal should be allowed.
LORD
JUSTICE MILLETT:
I
have had the advantage of reading in draft the judgment of Phillips L.J. with
which I am in full agreement.
Palk
was a case in which the mortgagee had no wish to realise its security in the
foreseeable future, whether by sale or foreclosure. It established that in
such a case the mortgagor might obtain an order for sale even though the
proceeds of sale would be insufficient to discharge the mortgage debt. It does
not support the making of such an order where the mortgagee is taking active
steps to obtain possession and enforce its security by sale. Still less does
it support the giving of the conduct of the sale to the mortgagor in a case
where there is negative equity, so that it is the mortgagee who is likely to
have the greater incentive to obtain the best price and the quickest sale.
Both
these steps were taken in
Barrett
v Halifax Building Society
(1995) 28 HLR 634. I have serious doubt whether that case was rightly decided.
In fairness to the Judge it should be said that it does not appear to have been
argued as a matter of principle; the mortgagor's application was resisted on
purely pragmatic grounds, and somewhat feeble ones at that.
For
the reasons given by Phillips L.J. I agree that this appeal should be allowed.
LORD
JUSTICE BUTLER-SLOSS:
I
agree with both Judgments and that this appeal should be allowed.
Order: application
to adduce further evidence refused; appeal allowed; application for leave to
appeal to the House of Lords refused; legal aid taxation.
© 1996 Crown Copyright