Abstract:
Like the protagonist in a series of B-grade horror movies, Grant v Norway, decided a good one-and-a half centuries ago, keeps coming back to haunt modern visitors who stray into its realm. …  Jervis CJ, delivering the judgment of the court, posed the question as: “[W]hether the master of a ship, signing a bill of lading for goods which have never been shipped, is to be considered as the agent of the owner in that behalf, so as to make the latter responsible.” ...  The decision had an uneasy passage through time under the scrutiny of various 20th century English judges and re-emerged in Singapore in the 1991 judgment of Karthigesu J in Blue Nile Co Ltd v Emery Customs Brokers (S) Pte Ltd [[1992] 1 SLR 296].