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''First National Bank of SA Ltd v Rosenblum and Another''〔2001 (4) SA 189 (SCA).〕 is an important case in South African contract law, heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) by Marais JA, Navsa JA and Chetty AJA on May 21, 2001, with judgment handed down on June 1. Counsel for the appellant was MD Kuper SC (with H. van Eeden); PM Wulfsohn SC (with T. Ossin) appeared for the respondents. == Facts == The respondents sued the appellant bank in a Local Division for damages arising out of the theft of the contents of a safe deposit box provided at a small annual fee by the bank for Rosenblum's use. First National Bank (FNB) sought to avoid liability on the ground that a term of the contract for the provision of the box expressly excluded liability. The relevant term (clause 2) provided that, while the bank "will exercise every reasonable care, it is not liable for any loss or damage caused to any article lodged with it for safe custody whether by theft, rain, flow of storm water, wind, hail, lightning, fire, explosion, action of the elements or as a result of any cause whatsoever, including war or riot damage and whether the loss or damage is due to the bank's negligence or not." The stated case prepared in the matter placed it beyond doubt that one or more of FNB's staff had stolen the safe deposit box or allowed one or more third parties to steal it. In doing so, the staff had acted with negligence or even gross negligence regarding the control of the keys which safeguarded the place where the box was kept, making it possible for the theft to take place. Although loss caused by theft or negligence had specifically been enumerated in the relevant clause excluding the bank's liability, the respondents contended that not all the possible manifestations of theft were covered by the clause. Theft by the bank's employees, acting within the course and scope of their employment, was not covered. The respondents contended further that gross negligence and negligent acts or omissions committed by the bank's employees had not been excluded. The respondents argued that the clause was silent as to by whom the theft had to be committed before the bank would be immune from a claim. It could not have been intended to mean that the bank would not be liable even if it was the bank itself that stole in the sense that those who were the "controlling minds" of the bank had committed the theft. This was so, the respondents argued, because no one could contract out of liability for deliberately committed dishonest acts. Relying on the ''eiusdem generis'' rule, they further argued that the clause dealt only with causes of loss beyond the control of the bank. As theft by employees acting in the course and within the scope of their employment was something over which the bank did have control, theft by such persons was not within the protection against liability provided by the clause. The respondents contended that the additional phrase "or as a result of any cause whatsoever" did not serve to expand the protection offered by the clause to encompass any other cause, whatever its nature. The phrase should be interpreted restrictively to read, "or as a result of any cause whatsoever over which the bank has no control." The Local Division concluded that FNB was not entitled to rely on the specific term in its defence of the action. FNB appealed against this finding. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「FNB v Rosenblum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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