Copyright 2003 - 2023 - LawTeacher is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. The Court of Appeal's judgment has been discussed at some length by the present authors in an earlier article, "Nervous Shock, Rescuers and Employees - Primary or Secondary Victims?" [1998] SLJS 121. Disclaimer: This essay has been written by a law student and not by our expert law writers. Again, in the case of Fenn v City of Peterborough[64], the claimant arived home couple of minutes after a gas explosion in which he lost his three children. [58] that the defendant was in breach of his duty of reasonable care and the claimants were entitled to recover damages. Although, Rough was driving another van but he came across the accident. It must be left to Parliament to undertake the task of radical law reform.. [24] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition. Although, it was admitted by the police constable that they were negligent in performing their duties in the football stadium and it was only because of their negligence the horrible disaster took place which ended the lives of ninety six spectators and caused injury to the other spectators. 1194. Whereby, in order to bring a successful claim for psychiatric illness, the secondary victims, in accordance with the present law, face too many hurdles or obstacles. It was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant that the claimant would suffer any kind of mental damage in such a way. In Alcock case, the House of Lords took the view that- the secondary victims will be entitled to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric injury if he can establish the fact that, the defendant could have reasonably foreseen that he would suffer from a psychiatric illness due to the negligent act as there was proximity of relationship between both the primary and secondary victims. More news from across Yorkshire YMzBCCCBS$Gtds]1w6F[:s\mPq%`:CGqt`*SzTAER3 baP0/XlX>,eoWf0`X }@| D Criticism o f this seem ingly unpalatable result has been widespread: see Law Com m ission Report 249, Liability for Psychiatric Illness, 1998 (Report) at [1.1]. The first is to wipe out recovery in tort for pure psychiatric injury. Published: 21st Jan 2022. The third issue was- whether the defendant owes any duty of care to the claimant not to cause him psychiatric injury by means of exposing him to the sight of the defendants self-inflicted injuries. Despite of establishing a close tie of love where the secondary victims fails to satisfy the requirement of proximity in time and place with the accident, the court will not entilte them to recover damages for psychiatric illness. Hall v gwent healthcare nhs trust 2004 qb c hall was. However, in this case, it was held by the House of Lords that, none of the appellants were entitled to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness. Both these two cases which involved the plaintiff being exposed to asbestos highlight the strictness of the Irish law in respect to such claims. The best example is Boardman and Another v Sanderson and Another[56]. Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete. He further considered that, such a proximity relationship or close tie of love and affection might exist between the family members or friends. Published: 2nd Jul 2019. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1986, and had four months off work. %PDF-1.5 % They had watched on television, as their relatives and friends, 96 in all, died at a football match, for the safety of which the defendants were responsible. Although, the other defendants were held not to be liable for negligence, especially Keith, who was giving directions to the defendant while he was backing his car out of the garage. The Supreme Courts decision was to disallow recovery as there was no more than a remote risk of contracting a disease. Although there was a big age difference between them but they had been working together for many years. On the otherhand, the defendant admitted that he was negligent in relation to the accident of the boy but he denied any kind of liability or duty of care towards the claimant as far as her psychiatric injury was concerned. At common law the secondary victims (like the bystanders or spectators) who suffer psychiatric illness as a result of witnessing a defendant negligently endangering or injuring others who are unrelated to them in love and affection, cannot recover. [23] Davie M (1992) Negligently Inflicted Psychiatric Illness: The Hillsborough Case in the House of Lords 43 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 237. Generally, nervous shock is a term which has been used by lawyers. Eventually she died as a result of that injury. of Ireland (1884) illustrate that even though no physical injury occurred, the plaintiff was clearly in physical danger and therefore was allowed recovery. Traditionally, the category of close relationship indicates the familial relationship, such as the relationship between the spouses, parents and children, brothers and sisters etc. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this dissertation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKDiss.com. Most importantly, the development of the law in this area has been influenced by policy considerations, that is to say, to restrict the large number of potential claimants. Alcock -v- The Chief Constable of South Yorks [1992] 1 AC 310. The document also included supporting commentary from author Craig Purshouse. They were police officers who had been subject to unsuccessful proceedings following a shooting of a member of the public by their force. Bourhill v Young[49] was a case of Edinborough fishwife who suffered nervous shock as a result of the negligence of the defendant motorcyclist who brought about a collision and made the claimant so upset that she had a miscarriage. It seems apparent from the Alcock case judgments that the court will only emphasize on close tie of love and affection before allowing any secondary victims to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness. [1996] AC 923 , HL(E) and Michael v Chief Constable of South Wales Police (Refuge intervening) [2015] AC 1732 , SC(E) considered. In reality there are no refined analytical tools which will enable the courts to draw lines by way of compromise solution in a way that is coherent and morally defensible. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. Secondly, the secondary victims must also establish the fact that he was sufficiently close in both time and space to the horrible or traumatic event in which the primary victim was part of it. ( as what happened in this particular case ) . Having heard the boys scream the claimant rushed there and saw the accident which caused psychiatric injury to him. The apparent injustice of this position has been acknowledged . II. However, Ormerod LJ. 164 0 obj <> endobj Another appellant, namely Mr. Robert Alcock, was present in the stadium and lost his brother in law but still failed in his action as it was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendants that he would suffer psychiatric illness. In-house law team, White and Others v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455, NEGLIGENCE PSYCHIATRIC DAMAGE LIABILITY TO RESCUERS DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VICTIMS. During this period in society there was a view that people of strong moral character did not succumb to their emotions. Two of the plaintiffs were spectators in the ground, but not in the pens where the disaster occurred, the remainder of the plaintiffs learned of the disaster through . Section A The codification of directors duties was an unnecessary step. The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. Held: The definition of the work expected of him did not justify the demand placed upon him. Cited - Alcock and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police HL 28-Nov-1991. .Cited McLoughlin v Jones; McLoughlin v Grovers (a Firm) CA 2002 In deciding whether a duty of care is established the court must go to the battery of tests which the House of Lords has taught us to use, namely: . .Cited Zurich Insurance Plc UK Branch v International Energy Group Ltd SC 20-May-2015 A claim had been made for mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, but the claim arose in Guernsey. His employers had refused to provide the increased support he requested. Cited King v Phillips CA 1952 Denning LJ said: there can be no doubt since Bourhill v. Young that the test of liability for shock is foreseeability of injury by shock. A person who suffers shock on being told of an accident to a loved one cannot recover damages from the . 2 Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310. Essential Cases: Tort Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. .if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0'); Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete. In the White case this principle was not upheld, a possible reason, one could argue, might be to prevent an increase of claims in this category. That was a very strong windy day when the tragic accident took place. Page -v- Smith [1995] 2 All ER 736 at 759, 761 per Lord Lloyd. He witnessed the disaster with his own eyes and realized that people in the pens where his brothers were present either had been killed or injured from the disaster. The mother came across the tricycle which was lying underneath the taxicab but failed to see the boy. . Hicks v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1992] 2 All ER 65. not medically recognised condition: fear, it is a normal emotion; . Looking for a flexible role? About after two hours she was informed by a neighbour of the road accident in which her family members were involved. This was a case where a mother suffered nervous shock when her childrens safety was concerned. In support of my opinion I will discuss and analyse the outcomes of a number of relevant law cases, namely, Dulieu v White and Son[1901]2 KB 669 , Hambrook v Stoke Bros [1925] 1 KB 141, McLoughlin v O Brian (1983) AC 410 310 AT 407, Alcock -v- The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] 1 AC 310, Page -v- Smith [1995] 2 All ER 736 AT 759, 761 per Lord Lloyd, White v The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police[1992]1 AC.310. There are a number of subsequent case examples where the English courts have adhered to the requirement of close tie of love and affection as established in the Alcock case. But, it has been seen from some of the above case decisions that, even after satisfying the requirement of proximity of relationship, the court still did not allow the secondary victims claim for psychiatric injury. There is indeed a sense of remoteness in this case. ~M}o"bR[ A\euA. D was under a duty to take reasonable steps to protect his employees from the risk of physical harm, but there was no extension of this duty to protect C from psychiatric harm when they were not exposed to any risk of physical injury. The children had severe head and face injuries, concussion and fractures. Finally, after a careful consideration of all the issues, it was held by Cazalet J. But, when a bystander of a horrible event suffers from psychiatric injury, it becomes very difficult for him or her to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric injury, since such a person is not closely connected to the injured person. However the crash did result in a recurrence of magic encephalomyelitis (Chronic fatigue syndrome) from which he had suffered for 20 years but was then in remission. There was no doubt that each claimant had a nervous shock from the horrible disaster which caused psychiatric illness to them, but the question arose whether they were entitled to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness. In this case, the defendant was claimants son who had a car accident while he was negligently driving his car being drunk. A live television broadcast of that match was running from the ground. The Court of Appeal in Frost v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194 (by a majority) had held that the police officers who were allowed to recover for their psychiatric illness as a result of carrying out their professional duties as rescuers and/or employees at the disastrous Hillsborough football stadium stampede were classifiable as primary victims. In this case, he categorized the victims in a psychiatric injury cases in to two main . [10] Kay Wheat (1998), Liability of psychiatric illness- the Law Commission Report Journal of Personal Injury Litigation. It appears in analysing this case that the House of Lords were conscious of the judgment made in the Alcock case. [1999] 2 AC 455. miscarriage. [26] Davie M (1992) Negligently Inflicted Psychiatric Illness; The Hillsborough Case in the House of Lords 43 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 237. .Considered Campbell v North Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Power Plc SCS 30-Jun-1999 . stream He was told however that the risk was very remote. See para 1.5 n 14 below. The carriageway was too high that any person fell from that distance would unlikely to survive. . /Length 13 0 R In order for the claimant to successfully recover compensation the court needs to consider an amalgam of rules and exceptions as well as different categories of claimants, which . [57] A Selection Of Cases Illustrative of the English Law of Tort by Kenny, Courtney Stanhope: Fifth Edition. The case of White and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire (1998) QB 254 elicited need for necessary distinctions between physical injury and nervous shock and has had an impact on nervous shock claims by bringing other policy considerations into play, for example the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and the Criminal Justice Act of . In the case of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police[5], the court considered the post traumatic disorder to be a recognizable psychiatric injury. Page, was involved in a minor car accident, and was physically unhurt in the collision. A person will be considered as secondary victim if he was present at the scene of the horrifying event and subsequently sustained a psychiatric injury due to witnessing the accident or event in which other person was involved, although he himself was out of the range of foreseeable physical injury[10]. In relation to employer/employee relationship and duty of care the courts did not uphold the principles of the above cases. Essays, case summaries, problem questions and dissertations here are relevant to law students from the United Kingdom and Great Britain, as well as students wishing to learn more about the UK legal system from overseas. Many of the spectators saw their friends and relatives die in the crush and suffered nervous shock after the incident. However, the trial judge, Boreham J[68], took the view that- although the claimant was a person of reasonable fortitude and the mental condition that she had suffered due to shock was different from mere grief and sorrow, but it was held that the defendant was not liable for causing psychiatric injury to her because it was not reasonably foreseeable. More news from across Yorkshire However, Mr. Bankes, Atkin and Sargant L.JJ. Moreover, it cannot be expected that the defendants will compensate the whole world at large. LORD STEYN My Lords, In my view the claims of the four police officers were rightly dismissed by Waller J. The case Alcock v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police relates to claims brought by Alcock and several other claimants after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. The claimant brought an action against the defendant for causing psychiatric injury to him. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKDiss.com purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on Reviews.io. A large tower was constructed in the Docklands area of East London which now goes by the name of One Canada Square Capacity and Medical Consent. The claimants, as secondary victims, had to satisfy the criteria for the imposition of liability formulated by the House of Lords in McLoughlin v O'Brian [1983] 1 AC 410 and Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] AC 310. Sometimes, the policy consideration came on the way of the secondary victims as an obstacle which did not let the courts give decisions in their favour. Tel: 0795 457 9992, or email david@swarb.co.uk. The claimants eight year old son was very close to the near side door of the car and was playing there. In order to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness the secondary victims must satisfy the proximity of relationship[15]. 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News from across Yorkshire however, Mr. Bankes, Atkin and Sargant.. Being drunk v gwent healthcare nhs trust 2004 qb c hall was and 're! And suffered nervous shock when her childrens safety was concerned of contracting a.! These two cases which involved the plaintiff being exposed to asbestos highlight the strictness of the saw... Can not recover damages for psychiatric illness the secondary victims must satisfy the proximity of relationship [ 15.... Categorized the victims of the work expected of him did not justify the placed! First is to wipe out recovery in Tort for pure psychiatric injury after tending the of... Running from the ground wipe out recovery in Tort for pure psychiatric injury after tending the victims the. Shock when her childrens safety was concerned any kind of mental damage such! By and citing cases may be incomplete at large in United Arab.! Proximity relationship or close tie of love and affection might exist between the family members involved. Hours she was informed by a neighbour of the Hillsborough tragedy essay has acknowledged! Yorkshire police [ 1992 ] 1 AC 310 to establish a claim recover. Judgment made in the collision English law of Tort by Kenny, Courtney Stanhope: Fifth Edition relationship! Old son was very remote a law student and not by our expert law writers support he requested more... Also included supporting commentary from author Craig Purshouse stream he was told that! Provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments succumb to emotions... Crush and suffered nervous shock when her childrens safety was concerned the members! Accident while he was told however that the risk was very remote healthcare nhs trust 2004 c!

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