Master of the Rolls Alfred Denning, Baron Denning

1 master of rolls

1.1 contract law
1.2 tort law
1.3 profumo affair
1.4 national security
1.5 illness , controversy

master of rolls

in 1962 lord evershed resigned master of rolls, , denning appointed replace him on 19 april 1962 salary of £9,000. although denning himself described step down pleased appointment, had preferred time court of appeal house of lords. court of appeal judges sit in threes, , lords in fives (or more), suggested way in court of appeal denning had persuade 1 other judge whereas in house of lords @ least two. other benefit of court of appeal hears more cases house of lords, , has greater effect on law. during twenty years master of rolls, denning choose both cases heard, , judges whom sat. therefore, on issues, had last word; comparatively few cases went on house of lords, @ time britain s highest court of law.

as master of rolls selected cases felt particularly important hear and, rather having american system (where judges had rota taking cases), assigned cases judges had expertise in particular area of law. in 1963 chaired committee investigating ways reduce archive of legal documents kept public record office; point files civil cases of high court alone occupied 4 miles of shelving. final report presented lord chancellor on 16 may 1966, conclusion being if our proposals implemented public record office alone relieved of 2 hundred tons of records (occupying 15,000 feet of shelving) . lord chancellor took denning s report heart, , had changes recommended implemented immediately.

contract law

denning gave leading judgment in d & c builders ltd v rees [1965] 2 qb 617 in 1965. d & c builders ltd (the respondent) had been hired rees (the appellant) construction work @ shop, sold building materials. respondent finished work , repeatedly phoned appellant request money owed. after 3 phone calls spread out on several months appellant s wife spoke respondents; said there several problems work had done, , pay £300 of £482 owed. respondents replied £300 barely cover costs of materials, accept anyway. if respondents had not received money have gone bankrupt, appellant s wife aware of. in judgment, denning modified english case law on part payment , accord , satisfaction, saying rules on part payment can set aside in situations 1 of parties under duress. fact d & c builders forced accepting lesser amount meant payment not valid.

in thornton v shoe lane parking ltd [1971] 2 qb 163 in 1971 court of appeal under denning ruled when dealing offer , acceptance between person , automated machine offer made machine. in butler machine tool co ltd v ex-cell-o corp ltd [1979] 1 wlr 401 in 1979 denning reformed case law in relation so-called battle of forms .

tort law

denning gave leading judgment in letang v cooper [1964] 2 er 929 in 1964. mrs letang, on holiday in cornwall, decided lie down , rest in grass outside hotel. cooper drove hotel car park and, not seeing letang, ran on legs. more 3 years after events, letang brought tort case against cooper, claiming damages injuries. standard tort personal injuries of negligence, has three-year statute of limitations, , letang instead claimed damages under tort of trespass person. in judgment, denning stated tort of trespass used if injury inflicted intentionally; if unintentionally, negligence used.

in spartan steel , alloys ltd v martin & co. ltd [1973] 1 qb 27 in 1973 delivered leading judgment on subject of recovery of pure economic loss in negligence. spartan steel company manufactured stainless steel in birmingham, , factory powered electricity. less mile away factory martin & co doing maintenance work on road when accidentally unearthed , damaged power cable providing factory electricity. due power being off factory lost large amount of money; £368 on damaged goods, £400 on profits have made goods , £1,767 steel not make due power outage. question spartan steel claim money for. martin & co agreed negligent, , offered pay damaged goods , profit spartan steel have made on goods, refused pay damages steel spartan steel not make due power outage. in judgment denning agreed have pay losses associated damaged goods, not money lost on steel not made due power outage because counted pure economic loss. public policy reasons denning not allow recovery of pure economic loss, stating in judgment that:

the court of appeal s decision in spartan steel has been criticised, firstly being based on public policy rather legal principle, , secondly because main public policy ground decision (that allowing claims of pure economic loss lead countless claims) has never been backed evidence. house of lords ruled in junior books v veitchi [1982] 3 er 201 pure economic loss recoverable.

the profumo affair

denning became best known result of report profumo affair. john profumo secretary of state war british government. @ party in 1961 profumo introduced christine keeler, showgirl, , began having affair her. @ same time in relationship yevgeni ivanov, naval attaché @ embassy of soviet union. on 26 january 1963 keeler contacted police on unrelated matter , voluntarily gave them information relationship profumo.

the police did not investigate; no crime had been committed, , morals of ministers not concern. although relationship lasted few weeks became public knowledge in 1962. keeler attempted publish memoirs in sunday pictorial in january 1963 profumo, still insisting had done nothing wrong, forced them down threats of legal action should story published.

profumo made statement in house of commons on 22 march, saying there no impropriety whatsoever in acquaintanceship miss keeler . on 4 june 1963 contacted chief whip , prime minister s private secretary , informed them had indeed been having affair keeler; therefore, sent letter of resignation prime minister, accepted.

on 21 june 1963 harold macmillan, prime minister @ time, asked denning lead enquiry circumstances leading resignation of former secretary of state war, mr j. d. profumo . started work on 24 june , began speaking witnesses day later. period of inquiry took 49 days , involved speaking 160 people. concluded primary responsibility scandal profumo, associating keeler , lying colleagues, greatest error being false statement in house of commons.

he said situation had been looked @ in wrong way police, members of parliament , security services; rather asking if profumo had committed adultery should have asked if conduct had led ordinary people believe committed adultery. analogy divorce law; man not need have committed adultery wife have grounds divorce him, rather has believe has committed adultery. because such belief destroy trust , confidence within relationship. brought criticism several government ministers including sir john hobson, attorney-general england , wales, saying mean condemning man on basis of suspicion rather evidence.

denning s final report 70,000 words long , completed in summer of 1963. signed on 16 september , published ten days later. best-seller; 105,000 copies sold, 4,000 in first hour, people queuing outside majesty s stationery office buy copies. full report published in daily telegraph supplement , described raciest , readable blue book ever published .

the report criticised whitewash , claim denning rejected; said while public interest demands facts should ascertained possible there higher interest considered, namely interest of justice individual overrides others .

national security

in 1977, denning upheld deportation of mark hosenball, journalist had worked on story referred existence of gchq, considered state secret. in ruling, argued government s decisions in these cases beyond legal review, writing:

there conflict here between interests of national security on 1 hand , freedom of individual on other. balance between these 2 not court of law. home secretary. person entrusted parliament task. in parts of world national security has on occasions been used excuse sorts of infringements of individual liberty. not in england.

illness , controversy

in 1979 began experience hip , leg problems; 1 of legs had shortened inch , half , had learn walk again. although remained otherwise in health sign of increasing age, , disabilities came began affect judgments well. while speaking @ cumberland lodge in 1980 forgot details of case, shocking judge noted excellent memory.

in upw s anti-apartheid boycott of postal services , south africa, freedom association sought injunction prevent boycott. lord denning granted temporary injunction, , years later wrote of bad workers (who joined boycott) , workers (who worked normally).

in 1980, during appeal birmingham 6 (who later acquitted) lord denning judged men should stopped challenging legal decisions. listed several reasons not allowing appeal:

just consider course of events if action proceed trial ... if 6 men failed mean time , money , worry have been expended many people no purpose. if won, mean police guilty of perjury; guilty of violence , threats; confessions involuntary , improperly admitted in evidence; , convictions erroneous. ... such appalling vista every sensible person say, cannot right these actions should go further.

in 1982 published next in law; in it, seemed suggest members of black community unsuitable serve on juries, , immigrant groups may have had different moral standards native englishmen. remarks followed trial on st pauls riot in bristol; 2 jurors on case threatened sue him , society of black lawyers wrote lord chancellor request denning politely , firmly made retire. denning apologised remarks on 21 may , handed letter lord chancellor detailing resignation, effective of 29 september.

on 5 july george thomas held dinner in denning s honour @ speaker s house. attending margaret thatcher, robert runcie, lord hailsham, geoffrey howe, lord lane, william whitelaw, michael havers , christopher leaver. on 30 july 1982, last day in court, denning prepared 4 judgments and, dressed in official robes , in company of lord chief justice, delivered farewell speech on 300 lawyers crowded court. delivered last judgment on 29 september in george mitchell (chesterhall) ltd v finney lock seeds ltd [1983] 2 ac 803 and, characteristically, dissented.