scholarly journals Vindicatory Damages in the Child Welfare Tort Cases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
David Neild

<p>This thesis argues that vindicatory damages should be available in the child welfare tort cases against public authorities. These are cases in which the plaintiffs sue public authorities either for not protecting them from harm when they were children, or where it is alleged that the authority’s employees abused the children while in its care. Vindicatory damages would be intended to mark the wrong to the plaintiff, rather than attempting to compensate the consequences. This thesis argues in support of the availability of a separate head of vindicatory damages in tort law, including negligence, and explores some of the liability issues which arise in these cases, including vicarious liability, liability for omissions and liability in negligence for the way in which a statutory power is exercised or for a breach of a statutory duty. New Zealand's accident compensation scheme is also discussed: it is argued that vindicatory damages in tort law should not be barred by the scheme.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
David Neild

<p>This thesis argues that vindicatory damages should be available in the child welfare tort cases against public authorities. These are cases in which the plaintiffs sue public authorities either for not protecting them from harm when they were children, or where it is alleged that the authority’s employees abused the children while in its care. Vindicatory damages would be intended to mark the wrong to the plaintiff, rather than attempting to compensate the consequences. This thesis argues in support of the availability of a separate head of vindicatory damages in tort law, including negligence, and explores some of the liability issues which arise in these cases, including vicarious liability, liability for omissions and liability in negligence for the way in which a statutory power is exercised or for a breach of a statutory duty. New Zealand's accident compensation scheme is also discussed: it is argued that vindicatory damages in tort law should not be barred by the scheme.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-145
Author(s):  
Paula Giliker

Abstract In this paper, I will examine the extent to which the common law of tort in England and Wales imposes a duty to prevent harm on public authorities and private individuals. As will be seen, the starting point for the common law is that such liability should, in both cases, be regarded as exceptional. This must, however, be weighed against duties to prevent harm that arise under the torts of negligence and breach of statutory duty. Public authorities may also face claims that their failure to prevent harm is in breach of ECHR arts 2 or 3. While the law is complex, this paper identifies three key arguments that explain the current legal position at common law, namely that: (i) tort law should treat private and public parties alike: (ii) human rights claims should be treated as distinct from private law claims and (iii) libertarian concerns signify that a duty to prevent harm should be exceptional and needs to be justified. While these arguments provide both an explanation of and a justification for the current law, this article questions to what extent the treatment of public authority liability may be regarded as unduly harsh on vulnerable claimants.


Author(s):  
Kirsty Horsey ◽  
Erika Rackley

Tort Law encourages the reader to understand, engage with, and critically reflect upon tort law. The book contains five parts. Part I, which is about the tort of negligence, looks at duty of care, omissions, acts of third parties, psychiatric harm, economic loss, breach, causation and remoteness, and defences to negligence. Part II considers occupiers’, product and employers’ liability and breach of statutory duty. Part III looks at personal torts and explains trespass to the person, defamation and the invasion of privacy. Part IV concerns land torts and Part V looks at liability (including vicarious liability), damages and limitations.


Author(s):  
Kirsty Horsey ◽  
Erika Rackley

Kidner’s Casebook on Torts provides a comprehensive, portable library of the leading cases in the field. It presents a wide range of carefully edited extracts, which illustrate the essence and reasoning behind each decision made. Concise author commentary focuses the reader on the key elements within the extracts. Statutory materials are also included where they are necessary to understand the subject. The book examines the tort of negligence including chapters on the basic principles of duty of care, omissions and acts of third parties, the liability of public bodies, psychiatric harm, economic loss, breach of duty, causation and remoteness of damage and defences. It goes on to consider three special liability regimes—occupiers’ liability, product liability and breach of statutory duty—before turning to discussion of the personal torts and land torts. It concludes with chapters on vicarious liability and damages.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ruth Upperton

<p>New Zealand’s accident compensation system is ‘no-fault’, meaning that New Zealanders are compensated for their injuries whether or not they can find someone to blame for their misfortune. However, until 2005, claimants injured while receiving medical treatment had to show either that their injuries were caused by negligence, or that their injuries were both rare and severe. The negligence standard was taken from tort law, and required the claimant to show that the injury was a registered health professional’s fault. This fault requirement created many of the problems that tort law had in the past: it was inefficient, arbitrary, and created a blaming culture that bred hostility between the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), the injured, and health professionals. In 2004, ACC published a review of the medical misadventure provisions, calling for them to be replaced by no-fault compensation provisions in line with the spirit and content of the rest of the accident compensation scheme. In 2005, medical misadventure became treatment injury, and both application and acceptance rates rose for claims concerning injuries received during medical treatment. However, the treatment injury provisions still contained fault elements, despite the legislature’s claim that the provisions were no-fault. In this paper, I will address the role of fault in a compensation scheme for those injured during medical treatment. First, I will define fault in its tort law context and outline some strengths and weaknesses of fault as a legal concept. Then, I will provide a short overview of New Zealand’s accident compensation scheme, the medical misadventure provisions, the push for reform, and the structure of the treatment injury provisions. This will give background to an in-depth discussion of the treatment injury provisions’ incorporation of fault standards. Also relevant to this discussion is the accident compensation scheme’s reporting mechanism, which potentially complicates ACC’s role as purely an injury compensating, preventing and rehabilitating body. Finally, it is necessary to consider whether compensation itself is inherently fault-based, an argument raised by some commentators. My conclusion is that some aspects of the treatment injury provisions still use fault to determine cover in some situations. The provisions give particular weight to the fault of the claimant in causing her own injury. This use of fault standards can be removed from the treatment injury provisions with some minor amendments, which are set out at the end of this paper.</p>


Author(s):  
Mark Lunney ◽  
Donal Nolan ◽  
Ken Oliphant

Tort Law: Text and Materials brings together a selection of carefully chosen extracts from cases and materials, with extensive commentary. Each section begins with a clear overview of the law, followed by illustrative extracts from case law and from government reports and scholarly literature, which are supported by explanation and analysis. The authors start by introducing the subject, and then examine intentional interference with the person before moving on to liability for negligence. Their analysis provides an overview of negligence liability in general, and then addresses in turn breach of duty, causation and remoteness, defences to negligence, and specific duty of care issues (psychiatric illness, economic loss, omissions and acts of third parties, and public bodies). In the following chapter, the authors consider the special liability regimes for employers and occupiers, as well as product liability and breach of statutory duty. The focus then switches to nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher, defamation, and privacy, before turning to vicarious liability, and damages for personal injury and death. Finally, they explore how tort works in practice.


Author(s):  
Kirsty Horsey ◽  
Erika Rackley

Tort Law encourages the reader to understand, engage with and critically reflect upon tort law. The book contains five parts. Part I, which is about the tort of negligence, looks at the basic principles of the duty of care and at special duty problems relating to: omissions and acts of third parties, psychiatric harm, public bodies and economic loss. It also covers breach, causation and remoteness, and defences to negligence. Part II considers occupiers’, product and employers’ liability and breach of statutory duty. Part III looks at personal torts and explains trespass to the person, defamation and the invasion of privacy. Part IV concerns land torts and Part V looks at liability (including vicarious liability), damages and limitations.


Author(s):  
Dr Karen Dyer

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the law on employer' liability and vicarious. To answer questions on this topic, students need to understand the following: tort of negligence; statutory duties, and the effect of breach of statutory duty; the Employers' Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969, and the meaning ‘PPE’; vicarious liability, and specifically The Catholic Child Welfare Society and others v Various Claimants and The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools [2012] UKSC 56; and defences to negligence.


Author(s):  
Kirsty Horsey ◽  
Erika Rackley

Tort Law encourages the reader to understand, engage with and critically reflect upon tort law. The book contains five parts. Part I, which is about the tort of negligence, looks at the basic principles of the duty of care and at special duty problems relating to: omissions and acts of third parties, psychiatric harm, public bodies and economic loss. It also covers breach, causation and remoteness, and defences to negligence. Part II considers occupiers’, product and employers’ liability and breach of statutory duty. Part III looks at personal torts and explains trespass to the person, defamation and the invasion of privacy. Part IV concerns land torts and Part V looks at liability (including vicarious liability), damages and limitations.


Author(s):  
Christian Witting

Street on Torts provides a wide-ranging overview, and a clear and accurate explanation of tort law. The book consists of nine parts. Part I provides an introduction to the subject, including examination of protected interests in tort and the history of this branch of law beginning with the ancient trespass torts. Part II looks at negligent infringements of the person, property and financial interests, as well as examining the liability in negligence of public authorities. Part III looks at intentional invasions of interests in the person and property. Part IV looks at misrepresentation-based and general economic torts. Part V is about torts of strict or stricter liability (that is, where fault plays either no part or a lesser part in liability decisions) and includes consideration of nuisance and product liability. Part VI considers interests in reputation (ie defamation). Part VII is about actions in privacy. Part VIII looks at the misuse of process and public powers. The final part, Part IX, is about vicarious liability, parties, and remedies.


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