Haines Bros Earthmoving Pty Ltd v Rosecell Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 112

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Haines Bros Earthmoving Pty Ltd v Rosecell Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 112 Hearing dates: 22 April 2016 Decision date: 16 May 2016 Before: Beazley P at [1]; Sackville AJA at [2]; Barrett AJA at [3] Decision: Appeal dismissed with costs. Catchwords: TORTS – conversion – unauthorised sale of companies' goods to bona fide purchasers – controllers of companies deprived of control of companies' affairs and assets by physical duress of third party – companies' goods sold to appellants by that third party – claim subsequently brought against appellants for conversion

ESTOPPEL – conversion – estoppel by omission – whether owner companies were under a duty to make known or discoverable by the appellants their claim to the goods – whether companies breached this duty by failing to notify authorities of the attack, threats of violence and deprivation of control of the companies – whether this inaction or silence was conduct sufficient to give rise to an estoppel by omission – whether appellants relied on this conduct – whether owners otherwise precluded from reliance on the protection afforded by the defence in s 26(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1923 (NSW) – relevance of common law concepts of estoppel in formulating the ambit of s 26 – relevance of need for equivalence of knowledge as to factual circumstances surrounding the transaction Legislation Cited: Bills of Exchange Act 1882 (Eng) Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) pt 6 div 1 Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 316(1) Partnership Act 1890 (Eng) Sale of Goods Act 1893 (Eng) Sale of Goods Act 1923 (NSW) s 26(1) Statute of Frauds 1667 (Eng) Cases Cited: Abbott & Co v Wolsey [1895] 2 QB 97 Associated Midland Corporation v Sanderson Motors Pty Limited (1983) 3 NSWLR 395 Baker v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy [1995] FCA 1421 Bank of England v Cutler [1908] 2 KB 208 Bank of England v Vagliano Bros (1891) AC 107 Banque Belge pour I'Etranger v Hambrouck [1921] 1 KB 321 Bell of Blackwoodhouse v Garthshore (1737) Mor 2848 Beneficial Finance Corp Ltd v National Mutual Royal Bank Ltd (Unreported, Supreme Court of Victoria, 8 September 1988) (BC8802455) Boyd v Mayor of Wellington [1924] NZLR 1174 Burnett's Trustee v Grainger [2004] UKHL 8; SC (HL) 19 Cahn v Pockett's Bristol Channel Steam Packet Co Ltd [1899] 1 QB 643 Eddy Lau Constructions Pty Ltd v Transdevelopment Enterprise Pty Ltd [2004] NSWSC 273 FBHS (Aust) Pty Ltd v Stone Homes Pty Ltd [2014] NSWCA 312 Freeman v Cooke (1848) 2 Ex 654; 154 ER 652 Grundt v Great Boulder Proprietary Gold Mines Ltd [1937] HCA 58; 59 CLR 641 Hannaford v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2014] NSWCA 297 ING Bank NV v Ros Roca SA [2011] EWCA Civ 353; [2012] 1 WLR 472 Johnson Matthey (Aust) Ltd v Dascorp Pty Ltd [2003] VSC 291; 9 VR 171 Kelly v Mina [2014] NSWCA 9 Kino v Prestige Philately Pty Ltd [2014] VSC 469 Kirkham v Attenborough [1897] 1 QB 201 Leonard v Ielasi (1987) 46 SASR 495 Mercantile Credit Co Ltd v Hamblin [1965] 2 QB 242 Moorgate Mercantile Co Ltd v Twitchings (1977) AC 890 Payne v Wilson [1895] 1 QB 653 Pickard v Sears (1837) 6 A&E 469; 112 ER 179 Republic of India v India Steamship Co (No 2) (1998) AC 878 Rosecell Pty Ltd v J P Haines Plumbing Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 1238 Swan v North British Australasian Co Ltd (1862) 7 H&N 603; 158 ER 611 Swan v North British Australasian Co Ltd (1863) 2 H&C 175; 159 ER 73 Talga Ltd v MBC International Ltd [1976] HCA 22; 133 CLR 622 Thomas Australia Wholesale Vehicle Trading Co Pty Ltd v Marac Finance Australia Ltd (1985) 3 NSWLR 452 Wind v Jekyl and Albone (1719) 1 P Wms 572; 24 ER 522 Woodley v Coventry (1863) 2 H&C 164; 159 ER 68 Zen Foundation One Pty Ltd v Sippy Downs Group Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 232 Texts Cited: J P Benjamin, Benjamin's treatise on the law of the sale of personal property with references to the American decisions and to the French code and civil law (Henry Sweet, 1868) M Bridge, Benjamin's Sale of Goods (Sweet & Maxwell, 9th ed, 2014) M D Chalmers, The sale of goods: including the Factors Act, 1889 (William Clowes and Sons, 1890) N Franzi, 'The sale of goods, implied undertaking as to title, etc.' (1980) 14 University of Western Australia Law Review 208 F Schulz, Classical Roman Law (Clarendon Press, 1951) S R Thomas, 'The mishandled development of the implied terms on quantity in the sale of goods' (Research paper No 13-08, University of Leicester School of Law, October 2013) L Vagni, 'Protection of the Purchaser's Reliance in 16th–18th Century England and Europe' (2012) 3 The Western Australian Jurist 1 A Watson, The Digest of Justinian, Volume 4 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Haines Bros Earthmoving Pty Ltd (First Appellant) Right Price Wholesale Machinery Pty Ltd (Second Appellant) Rosecell Pty Ltd (First Respondent) GT Haulage Group Pty Ltd (Second Respondent) Representation: Counsel: MBJ Lee SC; AH Edwards (Appellants) M Ashhurst SC (Respondents)