Mills v Parkes

In an action before the High Court of Australia, Stephen Mills, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales, sued George Arthur Parkes and Queensland Insurance Co. Ltd. on a Customs security for £500. The security was given by the defendants to ensure the safe keeping of goods discharged from a vessel for which Parkes acted as agent, on a sufferance wharf or shed, free from loss or damage except from unavoidable accident, and that duties would be paid or goods exported. Certain tobacco was landed on the wharf and subsequently disappeared, with no evidence presented to suggest the loss was due to unavoidable accident.

The legal issues before the court were whether the defendants were liable under the Customs security for the loss of the goods, and whether George Arthur Parkes was personally liable for the unpaid duties on the tobacco. The court was required to determine the burden of proof regarding unavoidable accident and the extent of the defendants' obligations under the security agreement and the Customs Act 1901.

The High Court held that the onus lay upon the defendants to prove that the loss of the goods arose from an unavoidable accident. As no such proof was provided, and the duties on the goods had not been paid, the conditions of the security were not met. Consequently, the defendants were found liable under the security. The court also considered a separate claim against Parkes for the unpaid duties, but as the parties agreed that the amount of the duty (£68 12s.) would satisfy the judgment in either action, and the second action was not fully argued, no costs were awarded for that part of the proceedings.