Time Group Ltd v Panic Link Plc & Anor

Permission to appeal may be granted where the first-instance judge may have applied the wrong legal question and might have reached a different conclusion if properly directed. In an apparent-authority case, it was arguable that constructive notice could be relevant, including circumstances that would put an honest and reasonable person on enquiry. The court did not decide whether constructive notice forms part of the law of apparent authority.

The claimant contracted with the defendant hauliers for the transport of computer hardware. The first-instance judge held that the defendants were liable under an oral agreement to indemnify the claimant for loss or damage up to a specified amount, relying on apparent authority.

The judge asked whether the claimant had clear notice of any limitation on the agent’s authority. The first defendant argued that the judge should instead have considered constructive notice and whether the circumstances ought to have put the claimant on enquiry. The application concerned permission to appeal from the order of His Honour Judge Kershaw QC.

1. Permission granted. The application was just arguable because the judge may have asked the wrong question when considering whether the claimant had notice of the limitation on the agent’s authority.
2. It was arguable that notice in the law of agency may include constructive notice in the sense recognised in Baden, Delvaux v Société General [1983] BCLC 325, namely circumstances which would put an honest and reasonable person on enquiry.
3. The court was not convinced that constructive notice should be imported into the doctrine of apparent authority. However, the possibility was sufficiently arguable, and the facts might have justified a different conclusion if the correct question had been asked.
4. The appeal was to be set down with a time estimate of one day. Notice of appeal was to be served within seven days, and costs were costs in the appeal.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division): Permission to appeal granted from the order of His Honour Judge Kershaw QC dated 3 August 2000. Notice of appeal to be served within seven days; costs in the appeal.