Bird v John Sharp & Sons Pty Ltd

The appellant, Henry Scorer Bird, appealed by way of orders nisi to review the decision of a magistrate who had dismissed three informations against the respondent, John Sharp & Sons Pty Ltd. The informations alleged that the company had sold declared goods at prices exceeding those fixed by the National Security (Prices) Regulations. The magistrate dismissed the charges on the basis that Prices Regulation Order No. 100, which fixed the relevant prices, had ceased to have effect prior to the alleged sales.

The legal issues before the court were whether Prices Regulation Order No. 100 continued in force after the amendments made by Statutory Rules 1941 No. 54 to regulation 23 of the National Security (Prices) Regulations (Statutory Rules 1940 No. 176), and consequently, whether the magistrate erred in rejecting the Order as evidence.

The court held that Prices Regulation Order No. 100 continued in force. While Statutory Rules 1940 No. 176 repealed the earlier regulations under which the Order was made, regulation 2A(2) provided that orders in force under the repealed regulations were to be deemed to have been made under the new regulations, unless inconsistent. Regulation 23(1) of Statutory Rules 1940 No. 176 provided the authority for the Commissioner to make such orders. Although regulation 23(1) was subsequently amended by Statutory Rules 1941 No. 54, the court found that the amendment, by omitting and re-inserting substantially identical provisions, did not extinguish the authority of existing orders. Furthermore, sub-regulation 23(5) of Statutory Rules 1940 No. 176, which stipulated that orders made under sub-regulation (1) applied to declared goods, served as a continuing source of validity for Order No. 100.

The appeals were allowed, with costs, and the cases were remitted to the police magistrate to be dealt with according to law.