Wood v TUI - Food poisoning in the Court of Appeal 16 January 2017 Jack-Harding (0) The Court of Appeal handed down judgment on 16th January 2017 in the decision in Wood v TUI Travel P [More]
Occupiers Liability and highways claims converge 17 November 2016 Jack-Harding (0) In Edwards v London Borough of Sutton (2016) EWCA cCiv 1005 McCombe LJ expressed the view that &ldqu [More]
No duty to warn of the obvious 12 October 2016 Jack-Harding (0) The Court of Appeal handed down judgment today in the eagerly anticipated appeal in Edwards v London Borough of Sutton (2016). The claim concerned the duty owed by occupiers for structures present on their land. The Claimant was pushing a bicycle over a small ornamental footbridge which passed over a stream in a park owned and occupied by the London Borough of Sutton. The bridge was humped and had... [More]
The EU Divided - But not as we know it 05 July 2016 Jack-Harding (0) The events of past weeks have brought into sharp focus the seemingly different attitudes held by a majority of the UK population compared to other EU member states. The result, whilst at present uncertain, may well be a full uncoupling of the UK legal system from European law. It is interesting to note, therefore, that even though EU law has for many years moved towards a harmonisation of legal pr... [More]
The root of the issue - Highway authority has no duty to remove moss and algae from its footpaths 15 February 2016 Jack-Harding (0) Does the duty to maintain the highway under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 extend to the removal of moss, algae and other equivalent substances from the footpaths and carriageway? This was the question which came before Haddon-Cave J in Rollinson v Dudley MBC (2015) EWHC 3330 (QB). The answer - a resounding 'no'. Mr Rollinson was walking along a short footpath near to ... [More]
The abolition of civil liability in employer's liability claims - an early indication of the Courts' approach? 29 September 2015 Jack-Harding (0) Section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 amended section 47 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in so far as it relates to civil liability. The section now provides that breach of a duty imposed by a statutory instrument containing health and safety regulations shall not be actionable except so far as regulations made under the 2013 Act so provide. The Act applie... [More]
Direct actions against foreign insurers in PI claims: the sting in the tail 03 June 2015 Jack-Harding (0) Barristers and solicitors practising in the field of personal injury litigation arising from accidents abroad have, for some time, been comforted by the fact that - at least as far as EU member states are concerned - it is relatively easy to idenitfy a direct cause of action (under the relevant local law) against the tortious party's insurer, thereby permitting a claim to be brought in the Courts ... [More]
The global scope of employer's liability 29 January 2015 Jack-Harding (0) It is trite law that an employer’s duty to its employees is non-delegable. The duty is to take reasonable care to see that the employee is not exposed to unnecessary risk. In the vast majority of cases, the scope and content of this duty will be easy to define, since the accident will have occurred on premises owned or controlled by the Defendant. In perhaps a minority of case... [More]
Adjusting the Ogden reduction factors to reflect a spectrum of disability 23 September 2014 Jack-Harding (0) In the context of a claim for future loss of earnings, for a number of years the Courts have been grappling with the thorny issue of when it is appropriate to adjust the reduction factors (RF) in Ogden tables A to D (contingencies other than mortality) to reflect the particular circumstances of the claimant and the relative severity, or modesty, of their disability. ... [More]
Service of supplementary witness statements in a post-Mitchell world 29 May 2014 Jack-Harding (0) In many cases the Court orders parties simultaneously to exchange witness statements. The rationale is clear: sequential exchange may well give one party an unfair advantage in terms of the ability to tailor the content of their own statements in response to the statements served by the other side. The corollary of simultaneous exchange, however, is that one party will often seek to adduce a suppl... [More]