AIR NAVIGATION ACT 1920. naval, military or air forces any aerodrome or landing ground, or any aircraft, machinery, plant, material or things found therein or thereon, and for regulating or prohibiting the use, erection, building, maintenance or establishment of any aerodrome, flying school, or landing ground, or any class or description thereof. (2) The order may provide for the imposition of penalties to secure compliance with the order, not exceeding those which may be imposed for contravention of an Order in Council under Part I. of this Act, and may authorise such steps to be taken in order to secure such compliance as appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary. (3) Any person who suffers direct injury or loss, owing to the operation of an order of the Secretary of State under this section, shall be entitled to receive compensation from the Secretary of State, the amount thereof to be fixed, in default of agreement, by an official arbitrator appointed under the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5, c. 57), the principles of that Act being applied, with the necessary modifications, where possession is taken of any land or premises : Provided that no compensation shall be payable by reason of the operation of a general order under this section prohibiting flying in the British Islands or any part thereof. (4) An order under this section may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order made by the Secretary of State. 8. ESTABLISHMENT OF AERODROMES BY AIR COUNCIL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES. (1) The Air Council, and any local authority to which this section applies with the consent of the Air Council, and subject to such conditions as the Air Council may prescribe, shall have power to establish and maintain aerodromes (including power to provide and maintain roads and approaches, buildings and other accommodation and apparatus and equipment for such aerodromes) and to acquire land for that purpose, by purchase or hire, in the case of a local authority by agreement, and in the case of the Air Council either by agreement or in accordance with the provisions of this Act as to the acquisition of land by the Air Council. Land may be acquired by a local authority under this section either within or without the area of the authority. (2) A local authority providing an aerodrome under this section shall have power to carry on in connection there with any subsidiary business certified by the Air Council to be ancillary to the carrying on of an aerodrome. (3) and (4) [Not applicable to Scotland]. (5) For the purpose of the purchase of land under this section by a local authority, the Lands Clauses Acts shall be incorporated with this Act except the provisions. of those Acts with respect to the purchase and taking of land otherwise than by agreement. 9. TRESPASS, NUISANCE, AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE.-(1) No action shall lie in respect of trespass or in respect of nuisance, by reason only of the flight of aircraft over any property at a height above the ground, which, having regard to wind, weather, and all the circumstances of the case is reasonable, or the ordinary incidents of such flight, so long as the provisions of this Act and any Order made thereunder and of the Convention are duly complied with; but where material damage or loss is caused by an aircraft in flight, taking off, or landing, or by any person in any such aircraft, or by any article falling from any such aircraft, to any person or property on land or water, damages shall be recoverable from the owner of the aircraft in respect of such damage or loss, without proof of negligence or intention or other cause of action, as though the same had been caused by his wilful act, neglect or default, except where the damage or loss was caused by or contributed to by the negligence of the person by whom the same was suffered: Provided that, where any damages recovered from or paid by the owner of an aircraft under this section arose from damage or loss caused solely by the wrongful or negligent action or omission of any person other than the owner or some person in his employment, the owner shall be entitled to recover from that person the amount of such damages, and in any such proceedings against the owner the owner may, on making such application to the court and on giving such undertaking in costs as may be prescribed by rules of court, join any such person as aforesaid as a defendant, but 10 & 11 GEORGE 5, CHAPTER 80. where such person is not so joined he shall not in any subsequent proceedings taken against him by the owner be precluded from disputing the reasonableness of any damages recovered from or paid by the owner. (2) Where any aircraft has been bonâ fide demised, let, or hired out for a period exceeding fourteen days to any other person by the owner thereof, and no pilot, commander, navigator, or operative member of the crew of the aircraft is in the employment of the owner, this section shall have effect as though for references to the owner there were substituted references to the person to whom the aircraft has been so demised, let, or hired out. 10. PENALTY FOR DANGEROUS FLYING.-(1) Where an aircraft is flown in such a manner as to be the cause of unnecessary danger to any person or property on land or water, the pilot or the person in charge of the aircraft, and also the owner thereof, unless he proves to the satisfaction of the court that the aircraft was so flown without his actual fault or privity, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds, or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such imprisonment and fine. For the purposes of this section, the expression "owner" in relation to an aircraft includes any person by whom the aircraft is hired at the time of the offence. (2) The provisions of this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any general safety or other regulations prescribed by Order in Council under Part I. of this Act. 11. WRECK AND SALVAGE. The law relating to wreck and to salvage of life or property, and to the duty of rendering assistance to vessels in distress (including the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 1916, and any other Act relating to those subjects), shall apply to aircraft on or over the sea or tidal waters as it applies to vessels, and the owner of an aircraft shall be entitled to a reasonable reward for salvage services rendered by the aircraft to any property or persons in any case where the owner of a ship would be so entitled: Provided that provision may be made by Order in Council for making modifica tions of and exemptions from the provisions of such law and Acts as aforesaid in their application to aircraft, to such extent and in such manner as appears necessary or expedient. 12. POWER TO PROVIDE FOR INVESTIGATION OF ACCIDENTS.—(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations providing for the investigation of any accident arising out of or in the course of air navigation and occurring in or over the British Islands or the territorial waters adjacent thereto, or to British aircraft elsewhere. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, regulations under this section may contain provisions (a) requiring notice to be given of any such accident as aforesaid in such manner and by such persons as may be specified in the order; (b) applying, with or without modification, for the purpose of investigations held with respect to any such accidents any of the provisions of section three of the Notice of Accidents Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 28). (c) Prohibiting, pending investigation, access to or interference with aircraft to which an accident has occurred, and authorising any person, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of an investigation, to have access to, examine, remove, take measures for the preservation of, or otherwise deal with any such aircraft; (d) authorising or requiring the cancellation, suspension, endorsement, or surrender of any licence or certificate granted under this Act or any order made thereunder, where it appears on an investigation that the licence ought to be cancelled, suspended, endorsed, or surrendered, and for the production of any such licence for the purpose of being so dealt with : Provided that nothing in the section shall limit the powers of any authority under sections five hundred and thirty to five hundred and thirty-seven inclusive of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 60) or any enactment (including this Act) amending those sections. (3) If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any regulations under this AIR NAVIGATION ACT 1920. section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months. 13. INFRINGEMENT OF PATENTS.-(1) Where it is alleged by any person interested that a foreign aircraft making a passage through or over the British Islands infringes in itself or in any part of it any invention, design or model which is entitled to protection in the British Islands, it shall be lawful, subject to and in accordance with Rules of Court, to detain such aircraft until the owner thereof deposits or secures in respect of the alleged infringement a sum (in this section called the deposited sum), and thereupon the aircraft shall not, during the continuance or in the course of the passage, be subject to any lien, arrest, detention or prohibition, whether by order of a court or otherwise, in respect or on account of the alleged infringement. (2) The deposited sum shall be such a sum as may be agreed between the parties interested, or in default of agreement shall be fixed by the Secretary of State or some person duly authorised on his behalf, and payment thereof shall be made or secured to him in such manner as he shall approve. The deposited sum shall be dealt with by such tribunal and in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by Rules of Court, and such rules may provide generally for carrying this section into effect. (3) For the purposes of this section, the expression "owner" shall include the actual owner of an aircraft, and any person claiming through or under him, and the expression "passage" shall include all reasonable landings and stoppages in the course or the purpose of a passage. 14. JURISDICTION.-(1) Any offence under this Act or under an Order in Council or regulations made thereunder, and any offence whatever committed on a British aircraft, shall, for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction, be deemed to have been. committed in any place where the offender may for the time being be. (2) His Majesty may, by Order in Council, make provision as to the courts in which proceedings may be taken for enforcing any claim under this Act, or any other claim in respect of aircraft, and in particular may provide for conferring jurisdiction in any such proceedings on any court exercising Admiralty jurisdiction and applying to such proceedings any rules of practice or procedure applicable to proceedings in Admiralty. (3) Section six hundred and ninety-two of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 shall, with the necessary modifications, and in particular with the substitution of the Air Council for the Board of Trade, apply to the detention of any aircraft under this Act or any orders or regulations made thereunder as it applies to the detention of a ship under that Act. 15. ACQUISITION OF LAND.-The power of a Secretary of State to acquire land under the Military Lands Acts 1892 to 1903 shall include power to acquire land for the purposes of this Act and generally for the purposes of civil aviation, and those Acts shall have effect accordingly with the necessary modifications, and in particular as though references to a military purpose included references to any such purposes as aforesaid. 16. EXPENSES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND AIR COUNCIL.-Any expenses incurred by a Secretary of State or the Air Council in the exercise of their powers under this Act, including the expenses of any investigation under this Act, shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament. 17. PROVISIONS AS TO ORDERS IN COUNCIL.-(1) An Order in Council under this Act may be made applicable to any aircraft in or over the British Islands or the territorial waters adjacent thereto, and to British aircraft wherever they may be. (2) An Order in Council under this Act may be revoked or varied by a subsequent Order in Council. (3) Any Order in Council made under this Act shall be laid before each House of Parliament forthwith, and, if an Address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after any such Order is laid before it praying that the Order or any provision thereof may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the Order or provision, and it shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder. 10 & 11 GEORGE 5, CHAPTER 80. 18. SAVINGS.-(1) This Act shall not apply to aircraft belonging to or exclusively employed in the service of His Majesty : Provided that His Majesty may, by Order in Council, apply to any such aircraft, with or without modification, any of the provisions of this Act or of any orders or regulations made thereunder. (2) Nothing in this Act, or in any orders or regulations thereunder, shall prejudice or affect the rights, powers, or privileges of any general or local lighthouse authority. 19. APPLICATION TO SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.-(1) This Act shall apply to Scotland subject to the following modifications:- Subsections (3) and (4) of the section of this Act relating to establishment of aerodromes by the Air Council and local authorities shall not apply, and in lieu thereof (a) the local authorities to which the said section shall apply shall be county councils and town councils, and the expenses of county councils under the said section shall be defrayed out of the general purposes rate, provided that notwithstanding anything in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) the ratepayers of any police burgh, which shall have established an aerodrome in virtue of the powers conferred by the said section, shall not be assessed by the county council for any such expenses, and the expenses of town councils under the said section shall be defrayed out of the public. health general assessment, provided that such expenses shall not be reckoned in any calculation as to the statutory limit of that assessment; (b) a county council may borrow for the purposes of the said section on the security of the general purposes rate in the manner and subject to the conditions prescribed by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, and a town council may borrow for the purposes of the said section on the security of the public health general assessment in like manner and subject to the like conditions as they may borrow for the purpose of the provision of hospitals. (2) [Application to Ireland]. 20. SHORT TITLE, REPEAL, AND COMMENCEMENT.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Air Navigation Act 1920. (2) The Air Navigation Acts 1911 to 1919 are hereby repealed: Provided that any certificate or licence issued under those Acts or under any order made thereunder shall remain in force as though the same had been issued under this Act, and that any orders made by the Secretary of State under those Acts, and in force at the date of the passing of this Act, shall continue in force until revoked or superseded by an Order in Council under this Act, and whilst in force shall have effect as though those Acts were still in force. SCHEDULE (s. 4). The Dominion of Canada. The Commonwealth of Australia (including Norfolk Island and Papua). The Union of South Africa. Newfoundland. India. CHAPTER LXXXI. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT 1920. [10 & 11 GEO. 5. CH. 81.] ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS. PART I.—TRIAL OF MATRIMONIAL CAUSES, TRIAL BY JURY, ADMIRALTY JURISDICTION OF HIGH COURT, AND AMENDMENTS OF JUDICATURE ACTS. Section. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT 1920. PART II.-RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN The United KINGDOM 9. Enforcement in the United Kingdom of judgments obtained in superior courts in other British dominions. 10. Issue of certificates of judgments obtained in the United Kingdom. 11. Power to make rules. 12. Interpretation. 13. Power to apply Part II. of Act to territories under His Majesty's protection. 14. Extent of Part II. of Act. PART III.-MISCELLANEOUS. 21. Short title, repeal, and application. CHAPTER LXXXI. An Act to amend the law with respect to the administration of justice and with respect to the constitution of the Supreme Court, to facilitate the reciprocal enforcement of judg ments and awards in the United Kingdom and other parts of His Majesty's Dominions or Territories under His Majesty's protection, and to regulate the fees chargeable by, and on the registration of, Commissioners for Oaths. [23rd December 1920.] BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I.—TRIAL OF MATRIMONIAL CAUSES, TRIAL BY JURY, ADMIRALTY JURISDICTION OF HIGH COURT, AND AMENDMENTS OF JUDICATURE ACTS. PART II.-RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN THE UNITED 9. ENFORCEMENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF JUDGMENTS OBTAINED IN SUPERIOR COURTS IN OTHER BRITISH DOMINIONS.—(1) Where a judgment has been obtained in a superior court in any part of His Majesty's Dominions outside the United Kingdom to which this Part of this Act extends, the judgment creditor may apply to the High Court in England or Ireland, or to the Court of Session in Scotland, at any time within twelve months after the date of the judgment, or such longer period as may be allowed by the court, to have the judgment registered in the court, and on any such application the court may, if in all the circumstances of the case they think it is just and convenient that the judgment should be enforced in the United Kingdom, and subject to the provisions of this section, order the judgment to be registered accordingly. (2) No judgment shall be ordered to be registered under this section if— (a) the original court acted without jurisdiction; or (b) the judgment debtor, being a person who was neither carrying on business nor ordinarily resident within the jurisdiction of the original court, did not voluntarily appear or otherwise submit or agree to submit to the jurisdiction of that court; or (c) the judgment debtor, being the defendant in the proceedings, was not duly served with the process of the original court and did not appear, notwithstanding that he was ordinarily resident or was carrying on business within the jurisdiction of that court or agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court; or (d) the judgment was obtained by fraud; or (e) the judgment debtor satisfies the registering court either that an appeal is pending, or that he is entitled and intends to appeal, against the judgment; or (f) the judgment was in respect of a cause of action which for reasons of public policy or for some other similar reason could not have been entertained by the registering court. |