Appeal over action to recover money

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32406, 19 September 1970, Page 18

Appeal over action to recover money

Il (N.Z. Press Association) ] WELLINGTON, Sept. 18. The Court of Appeal today , began hearing an appeal ■ brought by Earl William Syd- [ ney Constable against a judgment of Mr Justice MacArthur given in the Supreme ’’Court at Christchurch on May 15, 1968, in which he ■ found against Constable in an laction in which he had sought 'lto recover $2OOO. The Court comprised Mr Justice North (president), Mr Justice Turner, and Mr Jus- : tice Richmond. Mr P. T. Mahon appears for the appellant, and Mr R. J. de Gold! I for the respondent. The circumstances giving rise to the action are that in 1962 the appellant Constable : won the first prize in a Golden Kiwi lottery. At this time the respondent was a workmate of his. The respondent came from the Channel Islands and wished | to return there with his family, and so the appellant gave him $2OOO and asked him to buy a property in the Chan- : nel Islands. Some weeks later, the respondent left for the Channel Islands but re- ; turned to New Zealand about [two years later. The appellant then claimed the $2OOO back. i In the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Macarthur found against the appellant on the ground that the performance ■ of the agreement between ’the parties was illegal, being breach of the Finance Emergency Regulations (No. 2), 1940, governing the taking or sending of money out of New Zealand. Mr Mahon submitted that the appellant was entitled to succeed because he had established a valid cause of action;

for money had and received, without basing his case on ! any illegal act, and that there was no satisfactory proof of i illegal performance of the contract because: There was no proof that the respondent acted as the appellant’s agent when he obtained the consent of the Reserve Bank. There was no proof as to the nature of the respondent’s application to the Reserve Bank for its consent.