Day 190 - 23 Nov 95 - Page 18
1 person authorised to speak on behalf of the Company when a
2 journalist makes an enquiry? One only needs to put it like
3 that to see that the answer must be "no", in the light of
4 the way in which the positive case is put by the court in
5 this particular instance.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause there. (Pause) Yes.
8
9 MR. RAMPTON: The judgment of Archibald J. goes on from the end
10 of that sentence:
11
12 "If the statements had been made to a
13 stranger...."
14
15 -- and for this purpose it is clear that Archibald J. did
16 not regard the police officer to whom the statement is made
17 as a stranger, because he of course was a necessary part of
18 the transaction which was demanded by the exigency of the
19 occasion.
20
21 "If the statements had been made to a stranger
22 possibly they would not have been admissible, on
23 the ground that he was not acting within the
24 scope of his authority. But where they are made
25 in the course of his duty in initiating
26 proceedings and putting the police in motion,
27 there they are made within the scope of his
28 authority, and are therefore admissible and
29 binding on the company."
30
31 My Lord, that prompts me to put it another way: could it
32 conceivably be said that it was within the scope of the
33 duty of an Assistant Manager to answer inquiries from the
34 press? The next case -----
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. Do you have a spare
37 copy of this file for the shorthand writers?
38
39 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, I have. I have another one somewhere. It is
40 not nicely tabulated, I am afraid, or whatever the word
41 is -- divided up -- in the way that one your Lordship's is,
42 but I have got a complete copy.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What we will do, we will take the five-minute
45 break there; and what would be helpful to the shorthand
46 writers is if someone could put Post-its in, instead of the
47 tabs.
48
49 (Short Adjournment)
50
51 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, the next authority is tab 6,
52 Barnett, Hoares & Co. v. The South London Tramways Company
53 (1887) 18 Q.B.D., 815. Subheading: "Principal and Agent -
54 Authority - Secretary of Company, Representation by".
55
56 "The defendants, a tramway company, employed
57 contractors to execute certain works. By the
58 contract the defendants had a right to retain a
59 certain percentage of the amounts for which
60 their engineer from time to time certified on
