Expresa Exportadora de Azucar v Industria Azucatera Nacional, SA,’The Playa Larga, 1983’ [1983] 2 Lloyds Rep 171, EWCA
Citation:Expresa Exportadora de Azucar v Industria Azucatera Nacional, SA,’The Playa Larga, 1983’ [1983] 2 Lloyds Rep 171, EWCA
Rule of thumb:How do you make a claim for financial loss in Court? You have to provide the exact figures with a clear mathematical rationale or else the Court cannot uphold the claim – a claim cannot be upheld in Court based on guesses – it has to be with a proper accounting method.
Judgment:
Where someone has suffered financial loss then it must be clearly shown through accounts, ‘Iansa, as complainants, must establish what damage they have suffered. Mr. Rix had to accept: (a) That after the date when Iansa could have bought in to cover their loss there was no evidence at all that the fluctuations in the sugar market made the slightest financial difference to them. There was no evidence that they could have sold at the highest price. On the contrary, the reasonable inference was that the goods would have been resold for domestic or other consumption in Chile, (b) Although theoretically Cubazucar was capable of selling the sugar at the highest price, there is no evidence that it did so. Accordingly, to the plaintiffs’ contention that Cubazucar should not profit from its own wrong comes the simple reply: they have not shown that Cubazucar have done so. We cannot, therefore, see any basis upon which Iansa can seek to achieve a windfall in the form of an extra $1,200 per tonne over and above the price which was prevailing when they should have bought in the market’. Lackner LJ
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.