A builder's duty of care - When should it apply to the directors and employees of companies involved in the creation of defective buildings?

<p>This thesis considers the issue of when a tortious duty of care to prevent economic loss should be imposed on the company directors and employees who stand behind the complex structure of companies and contracts involved in the creation of a defective building. Set against the background of the leaky building crisis, and what are (it is argued) unfair litigation outcomes, the thesis traverses the emergence and development of the principles that underpin liability for negligence and negligent misstatement in respect of defective buildings. A review of the cases confirms that the concepts of control and general reliance are the basis of New Zealand law in this area. There follows a discussion of the difficult relationship between company law principles and negligence principles, and the role of assumption of responsibility in the law of negligence and negligent misstatement, including a discussion of developments in the leaky building litigation. The thesis advanced is that, in respect of the creation of defective buildings, the approach to the issue of whether to impose a duty of care on company directors and employees would benefit from placing significant weight on the factor of de facto control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of a building project, and on the lower level factor of a direct or indirect financial interest in the outcome of the project. It is argued that the approach to imposing a duty of care should be the same for directors and employees and in respect of statements and actions. In cases where the evidence establishes that the financial interest factor is not present, this should give rise to an inference that the company director or employee does not have control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of the project, so that no duty of care arises. This would enable a director or employee to exit litigation by way of an application for summary judgment. This is intended to discourage the practice of joining minor parties to litigation for the purpose of extracting a precautionary settlement. If control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of a project can be established by inference from the existence of the financial interest factor, or by the other evidence, then the two stage approach to the imposition of a duty of care would require a consideration of other factors that might negate the duty, such as the contractual matrix.</p>

A builder's duty of care - When should it apply to the directors and employees of companies involved in the creation of defective buildings?

<p>This thesis considers the issue of when a tortious duty of care to prevent economic loss should be imposed on the company directors and employees who stand behind the complex structure of companies and contracts involved in the creation of a defective building. Set against the background of the leaky building crisis, and what are (it is argued) unfair litigation outcomes, the thesis traverses the emergence and development of the principles that underpin liability for negligence and negligent misstatement in respect of defective buildings. A review of the cases confirms that the concepts of control and general reliance are the basis of New Zealand law in this area. There follows a discussion of the difficult relationship between company law principles and negligence principles, and the role of assumption of responsibility in the law of negligence and negligent misstatement, including a discussion of developments in the leaky building litigation. The thesis advanced is that, in respect of the creation of defective buildings, the approach to the issue of whether to impose a duty of care on company directors and employees would benefit from placing significant weight on the factor of de facto control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of a building project, and on the lower level factor of a direct or indirect financial interest in the outcome of the project. It is argued that the approach to imposing a duty of care should be the same for directors and employees and in respect of statements and actions. In cases where the evidence establishes that the financial interest factor is not present, this should give rise to an inference that the company director or employee does not have control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of the project, so that no duty of care arises. This would enable a director or employee to exit litigation by way of an application for summary judgment. This is intended to discourage the practice of joining minor parties to litigation for the purpose of extracting a precautionary settlement. If control of the inputs that dictate the outcome of a project can be established by inference from the existence of the financial interest factor, or by the other evidence, then the two stage approach to the imposition of a duty of care would require a consideration of other factors that might negate the duty, such as the contractual matrix.</p>

Conflicts of Interest

This chapter defines the term “conflicts of interest,” which encompasses a wide spectrum of behaviors or actions potentially involving personal gain or financial interest. It explains that conflicts of interest are defined as circumstances that create a risk that professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest. It also distinguishes between institutional and individual conflicts of interest, noting that the former is usually only of a financial nature, while individual conflicts of interest may also be non-financial. The chapter discusses how several eminent institutions have addressed conflicts of interest, some of whom have issued guidelines containing practical recommendations for handling both real and potential conflicts. It mentions the World Medical Association's statement that addresses the particular situation of a physician who both works in a clinical setting and engages in research, and reiterates the fundamental criterion that the well-being of the patient overrides all other interests.

Analysis of motivation for acting subjects in diagnostics of occupational diseases

Introduction. There is a shallow detection rate of occupational diseases in Russia. A large number of acting subjects are usually involved in the diagnosis of diseases. There is considered the current cooperation between the acting subjects responsible for diagnostics of occupational diseases in various modes. Material and methods. A search was conducted for data that described the main trends concerning conflict of interest in occupational health. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted on issues related to the diagnosis of occupational diseases of specialists working in various branches of this field of medicine Results. The author performed the analysis of existing conflicts of interest in acting subjects in the detection and diagnosis of occupational diseases and established the most significant acting subjects. Among them the most pronounced conflicts of interest were shown to be determined by employers (as institutions, and specific managers and doctors performing examinations of workers in harmful conditions, and the managing stuff of these medical institutions, as well as by the employees themselves, who are subject to these examinations. When analyzing the motivation of acting subjects, the primary and financial interest was shown to have less significance than the secondary one. Mutual connectivity in the implementation of secondary interests adjudicates a persistent configuration, which determines both the low detection rate of occupational diseases, including at early stages, and lack of opportunities for prolonging professional longevity. The existence of a conflict of interest is not evil in itself. Still, its resolution is always associated with obtaining benefits, including the entire country’s level (saving the lives of the working population). Conclusion. To increase staff lifespan and work longevity through the analysis of all acting subjects, it is necessary to improve managing decisions to achieve the predominant primary interests. The study of the conflicts of interest can be an effective method of understanding and improving the health system in occupational health to preserve public health and increase the working population’s longevity.

Special Access to Public Funds

In this chapter, it is explained how investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) treaties give protections to investors that would be impossibly expensive to provide to all. This more favourable treatment bolsters the position of investors within the state by allowing them alone to invoke billion-dollar risks to threaten governments. Further, the arbitrators who decide whether to award compensation to an investor have an apparent financial interest in doing so, since they depend on investors for future claims and business. This pro-claimant incentive extends to lawyers, experts, and arbitration houses that play important roles in ISDS. Judicial oversight is limited or non-existent; indeed, courts themselves can be condemned by ISDS arbitrators, and compensation ordered, without further judicial review. Under many treaties, compensation can even be ordered in secrecy, thus hiding the implications of the treaties’ inequality.

Auditor Independence and its Impact on Financial Statements Audit (Evidence from Oman)

Defrauding and error discovering by external auditor influence his relationship with his clients of professional auditing, a financial interest that auditor received it affect on the credibility of auditing and the relationships between the practices associated with the audit and the rules of professional conduct standards factors and changing the external auditor of professional auditing in Sultanate of Oman are investigated analyzed and to know the aspects related to change the External Auditor and its impact on the principle of independence, an issue of stakeholders interest in the companies under review.In the framework of the keenness of financial and administrative control of Oman to keep up with development in the professional work and the adoption of global best practices in audit work so as achieve efficiency and effectiveness in business and goals accomplished device, the study results from the questionnaire concluded that the subsequent discovery of the error, fraud and illegal acts after the issuance of the report shows the negligence of the references in the performance of his professional duties of professional auditing in Sultanate of Oman, the associated application with a review of the professional rules and standards of behavior affect change in the external auditor and also the quality associated with checking the extent of the auditor’s commitment to auditing standards process of professional auditing in Sultanate of Oman.