Facts
Fibrosa, a Polish company, agreed to buy some machinery for £4,800 from Fairbairn, an English-based company. In July 1939, Fibrosa made a payment of £1,000 as part of the agreement. By September Germany had invaded Poland and Britain had declared war. Fibrosa attempted to get the payment back but Fairbairn refused arguing that the invasion frustrated the contract. Fibrosa brought an action against Fairbairn.
The lower courts held, taking as their authority Chandler v Webster 1 KB 493, that where a contract has been frustrated by a supervening event, "the loss lies where it falls", with the result that sums paid or rights accrued before that event are not to be surrendered, but that all obligations falling due for performance after that event are discharged. Consequently, the lower courts rejected Fibrosa's claim to recover the £1,000.
Read more about this topic: Fibrosa Spolka Akcyjna V Fairbairn Lawson Combe Barbour Ltd
Famous quotes containing the word facts:
“A judge is not supposed to know anything about the facts of life until they have been presented in evidence and explained to him at least three times.”
—Parker, Lord Chief Justice (1900–1972)
““It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognise out of a number of facts which are incidental and which are vital.... I would call your attention to the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
“The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
“That was the curious incident.””
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“The past is of no importance. The present is of no importance. It is with the future that we have to deal. For the past is what man should not have been. The present is what man ought not to be. The future is what artists are.
The facts: nothing matters but the facts: worship of the facts leads to everything, to happiness first of all and then to wealth.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)