INTO ACCOUNT A SERIES OF FACTORS AND ESPECIALLY THE RESPECTIVE PRICES AND TOTAL QUANTITIES OF IMPORTED SCRAP AND SCRAP PURCHASED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY . IN ORDER TO KNOW WHAT THESE FACTORS WERE THE HIGH AUTHORITY DEPENDED PRIMARILY ON THE DILIGENCE SHOWN BY THE UNDERTAKINGS SUBJECT TO THE SCHEME IN DISCHARGING THEIR DUTY TO MAKE THE NECESSARY DECLARATIONS . IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT SOME UNDERTAKINGS DID NOT ALWAYS SHOW THE DESIRED DILIGENCE . THE APPLICANTS THEMSELVES HAVE NOT HOWEVER ALLEGED THAT THE ADMINISTRATION, BY FAILING TO REMIND THOSE SUBJECT TO IT OF THEIR DUTIES AS ENERGETICALLY AS IT SHOULD HAVE DONE, HAS BEEN NEGLIGENT .
THE PARTICULARS PRODUCED BY THE PARTIES SHOW THAT THE TIME TAKEN TO GIVE NOTIFICATION AMOUNTED RESPECTIVELY TO
117 DAYS FOR THE RUNNING-IN PERIOD OF THE SYSTEM OF EQUALIZATION ( APRIL TO JUNE 1954 ) AS FROM THE END OF JUNE; AN AVERAGE OF 57 TO 74 DAYS FOR THE REMAINING PERIOD OF THE SAME YEAR AND ALSO FOR EACH OF THE YEARS 1955 TO 1957;
AN AVERAGE OF 87 DAYS FOR 1958 EXCLUDING DECEMBER 1958 FOR WHICH THE PERIOD WAS 411 DAYS .
THE COURT TAKES THE VIEW THAT THESE PARTICULARS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE HAS BEEN NEGLIGENT ADMINISTRATION IF ACCOUNT IS TAKEN OF THE COMPLICATED NATURE OF THE FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION . ALTHOUGH THE DELAY OF 411 DAYS IN NOTIFYING THE RATE APPLICABLE TO DECEMBER 1958 CAN BE REGARDED AS EXCESSIVE, IT MUST NEVERTHELESS BE ADMITTED THAT THIS SINGLE EXCEPTION IS NOT ITSELF SUFFICIENTLY SERIOUS TO JUSTIFY THE INFERENCE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A WRONGFUL ACT OR OMISSION . IN SHORT NO EVIDENCE OF UNDUE DELAYS HAS BEEN ADDUCED OR TENDERED .
2 . SO FAR AS THE VARIOUS LATER CORRECTIONS ARE CONCERNED IT IS ADVISABLE TO BEAR IN MIND THAT, FOR THE REASONS GIVEN ABOVE, THE DECISIONS WHEREBY THESE CORRECTIONS WERE PRESCRIBED AND THE DECISIONS OF WHICH THESE CORRECTIONS WERE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, THE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE, DO NOT COME WITHIN THE PROVINCE OF REVIEW BY THE COURT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRESENT PROCEEDINGS . THEREFORE THE COURT MUST MERELY CONSIDER WHETHER THESE MODIFICATIONS WERE CAUSED BY CIRCUMSTANCES IN NO WAY CONNECTED WITH THE LEGAL STRUCTURE OF THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME OR BY A DEFICIENT ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENTS OR WORK OF THE ADMINISTRATION .
( A ) THE APPLICANTS PROCEED FROM THE PROPOSITION THAT, HAVING REGARD TO THEIR NUMBER, SCOPE AND THE PERIODS OVER WHICH THEY WERE SPREAD, THE CORRECTIONS, WHICH WERE MADE, AMOUNT IN THEMSELVES TO IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE OF UNJUSTIFIABLY BAD ADMINISTRATION .
IN THE FIRST PLACE, HOWEVER, THE HIGH AUTHORITY WAS ENTITLED AND UNDER A DUTY, WHICH WAS PRECISELY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE UNDERTAKINGS SUBJECT TO THE EQUALIZATION SCHEME, TO ENSURE THAT THIS SCHEME FUNCTIONED AT ALL TIMES ON A BASIS OF FAIRNESS, LEGALITY AND ACCURACY AS TO THE FACTS . IT HAD ACCORDINGLY TO RECTIFY ANY MISTAKE OF LAW OR FACT AND ANY ASSESSMENT WHICH EXPERIENCE PROVED TO HAVE BEEN INACCURATE, INAPPROPRIATE OR