Blogs Archive

In the recent Northern Irish case of Carberry (Deceased) v Ministry of Defence [2023] NIKB 54, McAlinden J delivered an impressive and lengthy judgment arising from the shooting of the Deceased on 13 November 1974. The circumstances of the case stretch back to the period identified by the judge at [208] as ‘the darkest days…

On 26 April 2023, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v BXB [2023] UKSC 15. Having reviewed all the leading authorities of the House of Lords and Supreme Court on vicarious liability from the last twenty or so years, the judgment set out five principles a court should…

E-scooters, much like Marmite, split opinions. Well, it seems our Parisian friends have spoken, and the answer is non! Not to Marmite, although one suspects the answer might be the same, but to e-scooters.  On 2 April 2023, the inhabitants of Paris were asked for their view and, with almost 90% of the vote, e-scooters will be…

In Jenkinson v Hertfordshire County Council [2023] EWHC 872 (KB) (judgment here), Andrew Baker J has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons on the question of when medical treatment following a tort can break the chain of causation.  The orthodox approach to this issue had been to follow the guidance of the Court of Appeal in Webb v…

In May 2014, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published a command paper in which recommendations were made to add Dupuytren’s contracture, due to hand-transmitted vibration, to the list of prescribed diseases. The recommendation was to prescribe Dupuytren’s when severe enough to involve fixed flexion deformity and following exposure of at least 10 years in aggregate…

The appeal decision of Julian Knowles J in Après Lounge Limited v Wade [2023] EWHC 190 (KB) (judgment here) provides a useful reminder that the courts must not impose a counsel of perfection on defendants, who are required only to exercise reasonable care. The First-Instance Decision The Claimant brought a claim against the Defendant for…

‘Back in the day’ – not a phrase ever used back in the day – I recall mention in pupillage of three occupational conditions, farmer’s lung, bird fancier’s lung and bagpiper’s lung. They acquired a sort of mythological status as no such cases ever passed across the desks of my pupil supervisors. Farmer’s lung was…

In Czernuszka v King [2023] EWHC 380 (KB), the Claimant, an amateur rugby player was tragically rendered paraplegic and wheelchair-dependent for the rest of her life. She claimed damages in negligence against the Defendant, who carried out the tackle which caused this injury.  Participation in sport raises particular issues in the context of legal duties…

The Claimant in Doyle v M&D Foundations & Building Services Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 927 was injured on a construction site in May 2014. His claim was, in the usual way, entered on the MoJ’s EL/PL Portal and dropped out when no liability response was received within the prescribed time limit. Proceedings were subsequently issued…

I blogged on law and practice in relation to fundamental dishonesty in January 2021, and now update that blog with further dispatches from the front line. The Incidence of Fundamental Dishonesty: An Unscientific Snapshot of 2022 In order to have a sense of how my own experience was mirrored by colleagues in Ropewalk Chambers, I conducted a…

A topic close to my (legal) heart, and one upon which I have been known to speak unprompted at some length, is the correct approach to fact-finding where several possible causes, or causal mechanisms, are suggested for the damage under investigation: a common feature of clinical negligence (and, more widely, personal injury) litigation. This raises…

On 3 March 2023, Johnson J gave judgment in Barry v Ministry of Defence [2023] EWHC 459 (KB). A former Royal Marine was medically discharged at the age of 29 years with noise-induced hearing loss (“NIHL”) and tinnitus sustained after training exercises. Primary liability was admitted. The Ministry of Defence contended for contributory negligence (in failing to…