HC Deb 25 February 1941 vol 369 cc447-8

Amendment made: In page 56, line 10, leave out the second "of," and insert "or."-—[The Attorney-General.]

The Attorney-General

I beg to move, in page 56, line 22, to leave out Sub-section (3), and to insert:— ( ) Where war damage occurs to any land or goods in the United Kingdom and it is certified by the Secretary of State or other Minister in charge of a Government Department that the damage arose out of action taken on behalf of or by agreement with, or under the direction of a person acting on behalf or by agreement with, the Crown, being action taken for purposes with which that Department is concerned, no damages shall be recoverable for—

  1. (a) the damage to the land; or
  2. (b) the damage to the goods, in so far as payment in respect thereof falls to be made under the provisions of this Act or under a policy issued under either of the schemes operated under Part II thereof,
on the grounds that the damage was attributable to negligence, nuisance or breach of duty. ( ) For the purposes of the last preceding subsection a certificate purporting to be issued by the Secretary of State or other Minister in charge of a Government Department, and to be signed by him or on his behalf, shall be receivable in evidence and shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to be a certificate of the Secretary of State or Minister. I moved the Sub-section which is now in the Bill, but we came to the conclusion that it was too widely drafted and it is now proposed to substitute this new Sub-section. It is intended to deal with a class of case in which, for example, a railway company may be carrying explosives for national purposes in excess of those allowed by the by-laws. Someone might seek to bring an action against the railway company for damage due to breach of the by-law.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.