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| For one thing, that would be a real bummer from Spectrum Plus’s point of view — fancy winning a landmark House of Lords case but — well, hard lines fellas. But [[Little old ladies make bad law|Little old book-debt securitisers make bad law]], right? | | For one thing, that would be a real bummer from Spectrum Plus’s point of view — fancy winning a landmark House of Lords case but — well, hard lines fellas. But [[Little old ladies make bad law|Little old book-debt securitisers make bad law]], right? |
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| The traditional approach was stated crisply by Lord Reid in {{cite|West Midland Baptist (Trust) Association Inc|Birmingham Corporation|1970|AC|874}}, 898-899, a case concerning compulsory acquisition: <br>
| | {{capsule West Midland Baptist Trust}} |
| :“We cannot say that the law was one thing yesterday but is to be something different tomorrow. If we decide that [the existing rule] is wrong we must decide that it always has been wrong, and that would mean that in many completed transactions owners have received too little compensation. But that often happens when an existing decision is reversed.”
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| Later on, Lord Nicholls said:
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| :“Whatever its faults the retrospective application of court rulings is straightforward. Prospective overruling creates problems of discrimination. Born out of a laudable wish to mitigate the seeming unfairness of a retrospective change in the law, prospective overruling can beget unfairness of its own.
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| :“This is most marked in criminal cases, where ‘pure’ prospective overruling would leave a successful defendant languishing in prison.”
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| While the court didn’t rule out the idea of prospective overruling —“‘Never say never’ is a wise judicial precept, in the interests of all citizens of the country” — this present case was “miles away from the exceptional category in which alone prospective overruling would be legitimate”.
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| So no, fellas. Natwest, you are shit out of luck.<ref>Being shit out of luck is something of a habit of Natwest’s — see [[Greenclose v National Westminster Bank plc - Case Note|Greenclose]]</ref> | | So no, fellas. Natwest, you are shit out of luck.<ref>Being shit out of luck is something of a habit of Natwest’s — see [[Greenclose v National Westminster Bank plc - Case Note|Greenclose]]</ref> |