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Negligent Inspectors and Flying Machines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2001

Christian Witting
Christian Witting*
Affiliation:
Department of Law, University of Leicester
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Extract

This article examines how courts determine whether proximity exists as between parties to a dispute in the “borderland” between two categories of negligence, viz. that concerning acts which cause physical harm and that concerning misstatements which cause pure economic losses. It is argued that these case categories cannot be delineated as neatly as the courts have assumed and that the kind of proximity typical of each is likely to be founded upon, at minimum, the presence of a close causal connection between ‘action’ and damage. In light of these findings, the article also considers the place of the notion of ‘directness’ in the tort of negligence.

Type
Articles
Information
The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , 16 November 2000 , pp. 544 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors 2000

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References

1 [1998] 2 Lloyds Rep. 255.

2 Little v. The Port Talbot Co. [1891] A.C. 499; Kubach v. Hollands [1937] 3 All E.R. 907; Watson v. Buckley [1940] 1 All E.R. 174; Clayton v. Woodman and Sons (Builders) Ltd. [1962] 2 Q.B. 533 (reversed on facts [1962] 1 W.L.R. 585); Clay v. A.J. Crump and Sons Ltd. [1964] 1 Q.B. 533; Driver v. William Willett (Contractors) Ltd. [1969] 1 All E.R. 665; T. (a minor) v. Surrey County Council [1994] 4 All E.R. 577. See also J. Fleming, The Law of Torts, 9th ed. (Sydney 1998), pp. 191-193.

3 [1964] 1 Q.B. 533.

4 [1932] A.C. 562.

5 [1964] 1 Q.B. 533, 556-557.

6 At p. 557.

7 [1964] A.C. 465.

8 [1996] 1 A.C. 211.

9 At p. 235.

10 Ibid., agreeing with Saville L.J. in the Court of Appeal: [1994] 1 W.L.R. 1071, 1077.

11 [1996] 1 A.C. 211, 237.

12 Ibid.

13 [1995] 2 A.C. 145, 177-178 and 194-196.

14 [1996] 1 A.C. 211, 237-238.

15 The point that a finding in favour of the claimant may have interfered with the regulation of the carriage of goods by sea, in so far as it redistributed risks of liability, was vigorously contested by the lone dissentient, Lord Lloyd, who noted that the case was unusual in that the cargo had been carried under bills of lading incorporating the Hague-Visby Rules rather than, as is more common, under a charterparty. The Rules do not apply to charterparties: ibid., at p. 221.

16 Ibid, at pp. 238-242.

17 The Order was made pursuant to section 3 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982.

18 This assumption was contested by the defendants.

19 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 257.

20 Ibid.

21 At pp. 257-258.

22 At p. 261.

23 Ibid.

24 At p. 262.

25 Ibid.

26 At p. 264.

27 At p. 263.

28 At p. 258.

29 At p. 259.

30 At p. 264.

31 At p. 259.

32 At p. 268.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid.

35 [1932] A.C. 563, 581.

36 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 270.

37 At p. 272.

38 Ibid. (emphasis added).

39 Ibid.

40 Ibid.

41 At p. 273.

42 Ibid.

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid., quoting from Marc Rich v. Bishop Rock Marine Ltd. [1996] 1 A.C. 211, 237.

45 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 273.

46 Ibid.

47 At p. 274.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid.

50 At p. 275.

51 At p. 276.

52 At pp. 274 and 276-277.

53 At p. 276.

54 [1991] 1 A.C. 398.

55 J. Stapleton, “Duty of Care and Economic Loss: A Wider Agenda” (1991) 107 L.Q.R. 249, esp. 279-283. See also Stapleton, J., “In Restraint of Tort” in Birks, P. (ed.), The Frontiers of Liability, vol. II (Oxford 1994), pp. 8586Google Scholar; Stapleton, J., “Duty of Care Factors: a Selection from the Judicial Menus” in Cane, P. and Stapleton, J. (eds.), The Law of Obligations: Essays in Celebration of John Fleming (Oxford 1998), pp. 6768Google Scholar.

56 [1991] 1 A.C. 398.

57 [1990] 1 A.C. 831.

58 See J. Stapleton, “In Restraint of Tort”, note 55 above, 85.

59 [1990] 2 AC 605.

60 J. Stapleton, “Duty of Care and Economic Loss”, note 55 above, 284.

61 See Murphy, J., “Formularism and Tort Law” (1999) 21 Adel. L. R. 115Google Scholar on the continued relevance of “form” and classification in tort law. Cf. Cane, P., The Anatomy of Tort Law (Oxford 1997)Google Scholar.

62 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 262.

63 At p. 273.

64 (1875) L.R. 10 Q.B. 453.

65 [1964] A.C. 465, 529 (Lord Devlin).

66 Mutual Life and Assurance Co v. Evatt [1971] A.C. 793.

67 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 273.

68 See J. Fleming, note 2 above, 189.

69 S. Perry sees no “normatively significant distinction between them”: “Protected Interests and Undertakings in the Law of Negligence” (1992) 42 U.T.L.J. 247, 274.

70 A different view is taken in Feldthusen, B., Economic Negligence, 3rd ed. (Toronto 1994)Google Scholar, ch. 2.

71 See, e.g., Martin v. Shoppee (1828) 3 C. & P 373. A good discussion of the requirements of assault can be found in Trindade, F. and Cane, P., The Law of Torts in Australia, 3rd ed. (Melbourne 1999)Google Scholar.

72 [1932] A.C. 562, 581.

73 J. Stapleton, “Duty of Care Factors”, note 55 above, 72.

74 [1964] A.C. 465.

75 [1990] 2 A.C. 605, 621 (Lord Bridge), 629 (Lord Roskill), 638 (Lord Oliver), 658 and 662 (Lord Jauncey).

76 Ministry of Housing and Local Government v. Sharp [1970] 2 Q.B. 223, 268 (Lord Denning MR); Caparo Industries plc v. Dickman [1990] 2 A.C. 605, 637 (Lord Oliver); Smith v. Eric S. Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 862.

77 [1998] 1 W.L.R. 829.

78 At p. 835.

79 Ibid.

80 See, esp., K. Barker, “Unreliable Assumptions in the Modern Law of Negligence” (1993) 109 L.Q.R. 461.

81 See, e.g., Smith v. Eric S Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 862 (Lord Griffiths).

82 See K. Barker, note 80 above, 468-469.

83 [1990] 1 A.C. 831.

84 [1998] 1 W.L.R. 829, 835.

85 Smith v. Eric S. Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 862 (Lord Griffiths); Caparo Industries plc v. Dickman [1990] 2 A.C. 605, 628 (Lord Roskill). See also B. Hepple, “Negligence: The Search for Coherence” (1997) 50 C.L.P. 69, 88.

86 See K. Barker, note 80 above, 476-478.

87 Holyoak, J. and Mazzochetti, F., “The Legal Protection of Economic Interests” (1993) 1 Tort L.R. 185, 188Google Scholar.

88 See Cane, P., “The Basis of Tortious Liability” in Cane, P. and Stapleton, J. (eds.), Essays for Patrick Atiyah (Oxford 1991), p. 355Google Scholar.

89 [1995] 2 A.C. 207

90 [1998] 1 W.L.R. 829.

91 At p. 834.

92 At p. 837.

93 At p. 834.

94 [1998] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 255, 261.

95 These ideas are set out at length in C. Witting, “Justifying Liability to Third Parties for Negligent Misstatements” (2000) 20 O.J.L.S. 615.

96 The phrase is taken from Sutherland Shire Council v. Heyman (1985) 157 C.L.R. 424, 497-498 (Deane J.).

97 See comments in Candler v. Crane, Christmas and Co. [1951] 2 K.B. 164, 181 (Denning L.J.); Hedley Byrne v. Heller and Partners [1964] A.C. 465, 497 (Lord Morris) and 538 (Lord Pearce); Yianni v. Edwin Evans and Sons [1982] 1 Q.B. 438, 456 (Park J); Smith v. Eric S. Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 865 (Lord Griffiths) and 871-872 (Lord Jauncey); Caparo Industries plc v. Dickman [1990] 2 A.C. 605, 621 (Lord Bridge); White v. Jones [1995] 2 A.C. 207, 272 and 275 (Lord Browne-Wilkinson). See also P. Cane, “The Basis of Tortious Liability”, note 88 above, 355.

98 See, esp., Yianni v. Edwin Evans and Sons [1982] 1 Q.B. 438, 456 (Park J.); Smith v. Eric S Bush [1990] 1 A.C. 831, 852 (Lord Templeman), 865 (Lord Griffiths) and 871 (Lord Jauncey); White v. Jones [1995] 2 A.C. 207.

99 Key factors in this scheme, notably knowledge and vulnerability, were prevalent in the diverse judgments of members of the High Court of Australia in the recent case of Perre v. Apand Pty. Ltd. (1999) 164 A.L.R. 606 (concerned with the infliction of pure economic loss by the introduction of a plant disease to a potato growing area, disabling nearby producers from selling in the profitable Western Australian market under prohibitory legislation). See J. Tesvic, ‘'Perre v Apand Pty Ltd—Coherent Negligence Law for the New Millennium?” (2000) 22 Syd. L.R. 297.

100 [1961] A.C. 388.

101 P. Atiyah, “Negligence and Economic Loss” (1976) 83 L.Q.R. 248, 263.

102 [1996] 1 A.C. 211, 237.