In the backwash of this recession the Courts are revisiting territory familiar from previous recessions – claims against valuers and mortgagees exercising powers of sale.
Littleton Chambers, 4th February 2013
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
“Two more hospitals were dragged into the NHS care scandal today as it emerged that 18 families were taking legal action on the grounds that their loved ones had suffered neglect and negligence.”
Daily Telegraph, 7th February 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Robert Francis QC speaks to the media following the release of his report into the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust scandal, in which between 400 to 1,200 people died as a result of inadequate care. Francis makes 290 recommendations in the report. He says that many were failed by a system that put ‘corporate self-interest’ ahead of patients and their safety.”
The Guardian, 6th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“An inquest jury has returned a verdict of unlawful killing on a 96-year-old woman in a wheelchair who died in a lift shaft fall.”
BBC News, 1st February 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) began investigating 40% more corporate manslaughter cases in 2012 than it did the previous year according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.”
OUT-LAW.com, 30th January 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
“Since the early 90s US prosecuting authorities have been using deferred prosecution agreements. They are said to raise about $2.5bn a year in penalties, often in respect of criminal activities with little connection to the US. A deferred prosecution agreements involves the filing in court of agreed charges against a corporation, subject to a condition that the charges will not be pursued if the corporation complies with the often stringent terms of the agreement for a specified period. Such terms will include the payment of substantial sums to reflect broadly the fine that would have been paid had the corporation pleaded guilty and to reflect the confiscation and compensation regimes. Corporations are likely also to have to agree to the appointment of a monitor to ensure their adherence to proper standards of behaviour.”
Fulcrum Chambers, January 2013
Source: www.fulcrumchambers.com
Milton Keynes Borough Council v Nulty, decd and others [2013] EWCA Civ 15; [2013] WLR (D) 25
“There was no rule of law that if the only other possible causes of an event were very much less likely than one suggested means of causation, that became the probable cause; the court had to be satisfied on rational and objective grounds that the case for believing that the suggested means of causation occurred was stronger than the case for not so believing.”
WLR Daily, 24th January 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Thames Water Utilities Ltd v Transport for London [2013] WLR (D) 15
“On the plain construction of regulation 19 of the Traffic Management Permit Scheme (England) Regulations 2007 a statutory undertaker could not avoid a criminal sanction where a person contracted to act on its behalf to undertake specified works in a specified street did so without a permit.”
WLR Daily, 17th January 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“A millionaire property developer and his wife who claimed they were brought to complete ruination by a simple banking error have lost their High Court claim for more than £3 million in damages.”
Daily Telegraph, 15th January 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A teenage boy who was left brain-damaged at birth has been awarded £7.1m damages after a 14-year legal battle by his mother against the hospital responsible.”
The Guardian, 9th January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Secret court hearings could be used when the families of soldiers who die as a result of Ministry of Defence failures pursue compensation claims, the minister responsible for the justice and security bill has admitted.”
The Guardian, 18th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The family of a young woman is suing the country’s biggest out-of-hours GP provider and one of its nurses, whose failures meant her fatal condition was not diagnosed, because neither will accept liability in a test case over legal responsibility in a privatised NHS.”
The Guardian, 17th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A driver opens his car door. There’s a collision with a cyclist. Is this a criminal act?”
BBC News, 15th December 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A nurse has been found guilty of the manslaughter of a four-week-old baby who bled to death after a botched home circumcision.”
The Independent, 14th December 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
The duty of care of Public Authorities: Too Much, Too Little or About Right? (PDF)
Speech by Master of the Rolls
PIBA Richard Davies Lecture, 27th November 2012
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“A hospital has apologised and paid £7,000 in compensation to a man who had surgical equipment left inside him following an operation.”
BBC News, 5th December 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“It is not uncommon for a potential personal injury or clinical negligence claimant to have been subjected to a series of events that may all be linked to causation of his injury – we’ve all met the unfortunate client for whom nothing seems to go right. Sometimes the events will be the acts of third parties, which
may or may not be tortious; at other times, the individual’s own actions may have played a part in the causation of his injuries. The third party acts may involve personal injury, or clinical negligence, or even assault. In such circumstances, there may be multiple potential defendants to any legal claim
and serious thought needs to be given to the question of whom to claim against, to avoid potential adverse costs consequences from bringing proceedings against the wrong, or too many, defendant(s) or – worse – failing to sue the tortfeasor ultimately found to be primarily or even solely responsible for the claimant’s losses.”
Full story (PDF)
Cloisters, November 2012
Source: www.cloisters.com
Regina v Nursing [2012] EWCA Crim 2521; [2012] WLR (D) 360
“The offence of wilfully neglecting a person who lacked capacity, contrary to section 44(2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, was not legally uncertain. Neglect was not wilful if a defendant’s acts or omissions were or might have been motivated by the wish or sense of obligation to respect the autonomy of the person concerned.”
WLR Daily, 30th November 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“A former spy is suing the Metropolitan police for failing to ‘protect’ him from falling in love with one of the environmental activists whose movement he infiltrated.”
The Guardian, 25th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A railway guard has been sentenced to five years in prison for the manslaughter of a drunk teenager, after he signalled for a train to move as she was leaning against the carriage.”
The Independent, 15th November 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
