Re Refugee Review Tribunal; Ex parte Aala

The case of The Zinc Corporation Limited v. Hirsch involved an appeal to the High Court of Australia from the Supreme Court of Victoria. The dispute concerned a contract for the sale of zinc concentrates between the appellant, an English company, and the respondents, who were German residents. The core of the disagreement lay in the payment for concentrates delivered prior to the outbreak of World War I, with the respondents arguing that the contract was dissolved or suspended by the war, thus absolving them of further payment obligations.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the outbreak of war dissolved the contract entirely, including obligations for goods already delivered, or merely suspended executory obligations. Specifically, the court had to determine if payment for concentrates delivered before the war could lawfully be made and received, and if the subsequent adjustment of prices, the defendants' option regarding price calculation, or the impact of the war on market prices constituted a bar to the plaintiffs' claim for the outstanding balance. The court also considered the effect of the Trading with the Enemy Acts and relevant proclamations on such payments.

The High Court, affirming the decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria, held that the contract was not dissolved in relation to payments for concentrates delivered before the outbreak of war. The court reasoned that the Trading with the Enemy Acts, read in conjunction with the Imperial Proclamation of 9th September 1914, did not prohibit the receipt of payments arising from pre-war transactions. Clause 7 of the Proclamation was interpreted as providing a licence for such payments. Furthermore, the court found that the provisions for price adjustment, the defendants' option, and the impact of war on market prices did not prevent the plaintiffs from recovering the difference between the amount paid and the adjusted price, as the adjustment itself did not necessitate illegal intercourse with the enemy.