January-June 2016
ISSN 2050-005X (Online); 978-1522795582 (ISBN-13); 1522795588 (ISBN-10)
This article argues that Civil Law is fundamentally unsuitable to dealing either with i) grievances against the way a Public Authority has handled a particular situation; or ii) loss that one has suffered at the hands of a public authority acting negligently. The rationale behind this conclusion is based on the belief that suing public bodies for negligence is problematic as it is an inordinately expensive process for the taxpayer and, being a fault- based system of liability, often leaves deserving individuals who have simply been the victims of bad luck with no compensation for their loss. Moreover, the state of the case law is doctrinally incoherent and unstable, and thus in need of re-examination.
Keywords: liability of public authorities, negligence, duty of care, public bodies, fault-based compensation, law reform, public liability, omissions liability.
1 Murray Wardrop, ‘NHS facing £15.7bn for rising number of clinical negligence claims’ (The Telegraph, 7 February 2012) <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9065534/NHSfacing-15.7bn-for-rising-number-of-clinical-negligence-claims.html> accessed 5 September 2015.
2 Action Against Medical Accidents, AVMA Action Against Medical Accidents Response to Welsh Assembly Consultation on Proposed NHS Redress (Wales) Measure (Response, September 2007) <http://www.assembly.wales/NAfW%20Documents/nhsr19_-_action_against_medical_accidents_140907.pdf%20-%2024092007/nhsr19_-_action_against_medical_accidents_140907-English.pdf> accessed 5 September 2015.
3 Lord Hoffmann, Reforming the Law of Public Authority Negligence (Bar Council Law Reform Lecture 2009) <http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/media/100362/lord_hoffmann_s_transcript_171109.pdf> accessed 5 September 2015.
4 Rebecca Café, ‘Metropolitan Police spends £9m in six years on compensation’ (BBC News, 12 May 2012) <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-18021317> accessed 5 September 2015.
5 Albert Venn Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (5th edn, Macmillan 2009).
6 Entick v Carrington [1765] EWHC KB J98 (Westminster Hall).
7 P. S. Atiyah, The Damages Lottery (Hart Publishing, 1997), 139.
8 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100 [1932] AC 562.
9 Gorringe v Calderdale MBC [2004] UKHL 14, [2004] 1 WLR 1057.
10 Gorringe, para 3.
11 Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] UKHL 2, [1990] 2 AC 605.
12 Barrett v Enfield Borough Council [2001] 2 AC 550 (HL).
13 Barrett, 586.
14 East Suffolk Rivers Catchment Board v Kent [1941] AC 71 (HL).
15 East Suffolk Rivers, 88.
16 Stovin v Wise (Norfolk CC, Third Party) [1996] AC 923 (HL).
17 Gorringe.
18 Gorringe; Lord Hoffmann (n 3) para [32].
19 Donal Nolan, ‘The liability of public authorities for failing to confer benefits’ [2011] 127 LQR 260.
20 Stovin.
21 Nolan.
22 Kent v Griffiths [2000] 2 WLR 1158 (CA).
23 Capital & Counties Plc. v Hampshire County Council [1997] 3 WLR (CA).
24 Capital and Counties.
25 “Reforming the Law of Public Authority Negligence”.
26 Phelps v Hillingdon London Borough Council [2000] UKHL 47 [2001] 2 AC 619.
27 “Reforming the Law of Public Authority Negligence”, 11-12.
28 Accident Compensation Act 1972 (NZ).
29 Kent [1941].
30 Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2002] EWCA Civ 65 [2002] Q.B. 929.
31 Marcic [2002], Lord Nicholls, para 113.
32 Gorringe [2004].
33 Of course, the actual cost of this system cannot be confirmed without further research, but it would certainly be worth investigating.
34 Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire [1989] AC 53.
35 Law Commission, Administrative Redress: Public Bodies and Citizen (Consultation Paper No 187, 2008).
36 Law Com No 187, para 2.16.
† Paralegal at Clyde & Co LLP; Law BA, University of Cambridge.
(2016). Suing Public Authorities: Who Wins?. Legal issues Journal, 4 (1), https://www.legalissuesjournal.com/article/04-01-10012016/
