Getty imagesThree seat holders at the Royal Albert Hall accused their operator “illegally”, who was depriving them with their rights in the seats, losing the High Court bid for losses.
Arthur George and William and Alexander Stockeler, who were demanding £ 500,000, claim that they are excluded from the Hall of Arts and Sciences excluded from the higher performance than the rules of permission by the corporation, known as Royal Albert Hall (RAH).
His lawyers had asked a judge to declare that the practice of excluding him from other demonstrations was illegal and to provide prohibition to prevent RAH from restricting his reach beyond the terms of the law.
Judge Sir Anthony Mann dismissed the bid and ruled that the dispute should go for testing.
Mr. George has 12 seats in two separate boxes, and the stocker has four seats in one box simultaneously.
He asked the judge to rule in his favor without testing and gave an interim payment award of £ 500,000 in loss, which was being fixed before the entire amount, which was opposed by lawyers for the opponents.
In a written judgment on Tuesday, the judge dismissed the bid and said: “It would seem unexpected to probably declare me unexpected.
“Whether any announcement is justified in a test, when all relevant issues and rescues have been canceled and ruled, there will be a case for the trial judge.”
Rules for seat holders are also ruled by the Royal Albert Hall Act as well as internal rule.
Getty imagesSir Anthony said: “The history of the case and its effect will have to go completely with a degree that can only provide a test, and a test is necessary to determine the validity of this defense.
“Being this case, I do not need to consider the question of measurement of loss and whether an interim award is appropriate.”
In the hearing earlier this month, representing David Sottle, Mr. George and stockers, stating that the case was not “violation of the contract”, but rather related to the “wrong” use of someone’s property.
He said: “We say, if you take someone else’s property and use it, you are responsible for compensating the owner of the property for that use.”
In the written submission for the corporation, Simon Tube KC said that those who are members of the corporation before 2008 did not vote against practice until the annual general meeting in 2023.
He said: “The background of the claim is that in recent years the complaints of the claimants with the corporation have deteriorated due to complaints from the claimants about various financial matters.”
What are the rules for seat holders?
Seat and box holders have been part of the Royal Albert Hall as they helped in the construction of the listed site opened by Queen Victoria in 1871.
These investors were empowered to use or reach their seats for the 999-year lease period of the hall, according to the site website.
Some 1,268 seats, the total potential capacity of 5,272 from the total potential capacity of the hall, remain under private ownership of 316 people. Some seats have been passed within the families of original investors.
According to Harrods Estates, seat holders, known as members, deserve two -thirds of the performance in the hall over a period of 12 months, managing the sale of seats and stalls.
There was a line of four stall seats listed as sold Guide price of £ 650,000,
The RAH website stated that the seat holder is “free to please with the tickets allotted to them for their seats”.
