HC Deb 03 July 1947 vol 439 cc1486-7
20. Mr. Janner

asked the Attorney-General when he anticipates it will be possible to make a definite announcement with regard to the official date for the end of the war; and whether, in view of the number of agreements which cannot be determined until this date is known, the decision will be expedited.

The Attorney-General (Sir Hartley Shawcross)

Whether this country is at war with any other country or not is, in each case, a question of mixed fact and law. If arbitrary dates for the end of the war are to be prescribed with the object of determining the intentions of parties to agreements legislation will be required. It appears from careful inquiries which have been made that there is no widespread demand for such legislation. The reason seems to be that agreements vary so considerably in their subject matter and circumstances that any attempt to prescribe an arbitrary date would in many cases obscure the real intentions of the parties, and obstruct the interpreta- tion of the agreement. In some cases parties may, for instance, have contemplated the cessation of actual hostilities. In others, the conclusion of a treaty of peace. I would remind my hon. Friend that for the purposes of certain tenancy agreements dates have already been prescribed under the Validation of War-Time Leases Act, 1944, but tenancy agreements are a limited class of contracts to which special considerations apply.

Mr. Tanner

While thanking my right hon. and learned Friend for his reply, may I ask if he does not agree, with the large number of agreements which do exist in respect of which there is a conflict of opinion as to what the phrase "termination of the war" really means, that some definite date should be fixed, if need be, by legislation, so as to allow people to get on with such agreements as they have made in a practical form?

The Attorney-General

The view at which we arrived after careful consultation with a number of bodies concerned in matters of this kind was, that to fix an arbitrary date by legislation would probably cause more difficulty than may exist at present.

Mr. Beverley Baxter

Is it not a fact that the Government of the United States of America did declare a definite date for the end of the war, and that that has worked all right over there?

The Attorney-General

I am afraid that that is a question of which I should require notice.