frost v chief constable of south yorkshire
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. It was held by the court that (according to the decision of Bourhill case), the defendant owes no liability towards the claimant although there was a liability in relation to the accident of the boy. After ariving to the garage, the claimant was asked by the defendant to repay the garage bills before he get his car released from that garage. In Alcock v Chief Constable Of South shire Police [1992] 1 AC 310, 407, Lord Oliver introduced a broader classification of the primary victims as including those involved, either mediately or immediately or , as a participant in the event causing them psychiatric illness. The Supreme Courts decision was to disallow recovery as there was no more than a remote risk of contracting a disease. Open Document. While Robertson was driving the van, Smith was sitting on top of the metal sheet. This was not the situation prior to this case. Having heard the boys scream the claimant rushed there and saw the accident which caused psychiatric injury to him. In this case, the court considered chronic fatigue syndrome to be a recognizable psychiatric injury[9]. Moreover, it cannot be expected that the defendants will compensate the whole world at large. 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 . White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1998] 3 WLR 1509 House of Lords. Mental Health can have a positive or negative impact on our behaviour, decision-making, and actions, as well as our general health and well-being. 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. [1999] 2 AC 455. All of the aforementioned cases demonstrate clearly that claims relating to nervous shock are indeed highly complex and, in my opinion, some of the outcomes seriously flawed. The claimant must show that his / her injury was reasonably foreseeable, although Lord Wilberforce did state that foreseeability does not of itself automatically lead to a duty of care. Initially Lord Bridges viewpoint held but Lord Wilberforce argument gathered credence,as evident in the following case. 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. The claimant was a fire officer who attended the tragic accident being informed in the course of his employment. But, according to the facts of the present case, the defendant had the knowledge that the claimant was not far away from the place of the accident, so therefore it was reasonably forseeable by the defendant that the father would be shocked after witnessing the accident in which his little son was involved. Only full case reports are accepted in court. After the dismissal from the Court of Appeal, ten of the claimants made an appeal to the House of Lords against the decision given by the Court of Appeal. They took the big metal sheet off the bridge and subsequently put that in a pick up van. was reluctant to interfere with the findings of the court and agreed with the decision given by McNair J. However, after couple of hours he received a phone call from someone and learnt that both his brothers got killed at the disaster. The House of Lords however, held that for the purposes of distinction between primary and secondary victims, that rescuers were not in a special position in the law. .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. When faced with these two decisions, one can't help but recall the comment of Lord Steyn in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] 2 AC 455 (at 511), who considered that "the search for principle was called off in Alcock". White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire. He successfully adduced evidence that there was a very close and intimate relationship between him and his half brothers[34]. Section A The codification of directors duties was an unnecessary step. Lord Steyn's observation in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455, was that while, "the law on the recovery of compensation for pure psychiatric harm is . As a result of experiencing such a dreadful event she subsequently suffered severe nervous shock resulting in the form of psychatric illness. 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 . %%EOF Unless and until there is clear evidence of having the close relationship or a close tie of love with the person (primary victims) who is injured or within the zone of danger, the court will not allow any claims for psychiatric injury brought by the secondary victims. 223 0 obj <>stream This was a case where a mother suffered nervous shock when her childrens safety was concerned. At the trial, Branson J. took the opinion that, the claimant will not be entitled to establish a claim for nervous shock and recover any kind of damages if she had not suffered the shock through the fear of her own safety. Common Law - Evidence Law - Amissibility of Evidence Essays - Use Our Free Law Essays To Help You With Your Law Course Codification of Directors Duties was Unnecessary. All of them were connected in various ways . Any information contained in this case summary does not constitute legal advice and should be treated as educational content only. Furthermore, the issue of measurability was a concern. In this case, he categorized the victims in a psychiatric injury cases in to two main . Both these two cases which involved the plaintiff being exposed to asbestos highlight the strictness of the Irish law in respect to such claims. It was the case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, [11] where Lord Oliver for the first time drew the attention to the distinction between the primary and secondary victims. A rescuer, not himself exposed to physical risk by being involved in a rescue was a secondary victim, and as such not entitled to claim. 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. He suffered only psychiatric injury. Eventually she died as a result of that injury. Prior to this, the initial response of the common law to claims relating to nervous shock, was to deny responsibility. (White (Frost) v Chief Constable of S Yorks, pp 500 and 511) The Clinical Negligence cases 1. Both of them used to go out for drink once a week. Many of the claimants witnessed horrific images and scenes of carnage on the television . Prior to the Page v Smith case it was assumed that reasonable foreseeability of psychiatric illness was required in all cases of negligently inflicted psychiatric illness and that all such plaintiffs must be persons of normal disposition.. An action was brought by her husband for the loss of benefit of her services. The defendants resisted saying that the injury alleged, the development of pleural plaques, was yet insufficient as damage to found a claim. Mentioned Walker v Northumberland County Council QBD 16-Nov-1994 The plaintiff was a manager within the social services department. Take a look at some weird laws from around the world! [1981] 1 All ER 809. As a result, the law in this area seems to be complex as well as inconsistent. The court took the view that, none of the claimants were entitled to recover damages for psychiatric illness. In Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455, the House of Lords applied that distinction to police officers (and others) who were not themselves within the zone of physical danger caused by the defendant's negligence, but had to deal with the consequences of catastrophic harm to others in the course of their duties . The document also included supporting commentary from author Craig Purshouse. Info: 9733 words (39 pages) Dissertation According to him, it is not necessary that such class of person, to whom the defendant owes liability, have to be spouse or parent and child. Three were on duty at the ground itself; one had attempted to free spectators while the other two had attended the makeshift morgue in the gymnasium. Hamrook v Stokes Bros (1925) 1 K.B. Lord Steyn and Lord Hoffmann, Lord Browne-Wilkinson Gazette 13-Jan-1999, [1999] 1 All ER 1, [1999] 2 AC 455, [1998] UKHL 45, [1999] ICR 216, [1998] 3 WLR 1509, [1999] IRLR 110, (1999) 45 BMLR 1 House of Lords, Bailii England and Wales Citing: Appeal from Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and Others CA 31-Oct-1996 The distinction normally made between primary and secondary victims claiming damages for shock in witnessing a terrible event does not apply to employees who were obliged by their contract to be present. If the claimant was a rescuer who went to the aid of others involved in an accident, they will only be defined as a primary victim if they were, or reasonably believed themselves to be, in danger. YMzBCCCBS$Gtds]1w6F[:s\mPq%`:CGqt`*SzTAER3 baP0/XlX>,eoWf0`X }@| D The second solution is to abolish all the special limiting rules applicable to psychiatric harm. The children had severe head and face injuries, concussion and fractures. 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. Frost v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194. . The courts both in England and Ireland have endeavoured to limit the scope of liability for psychiatric illness, by establishing a set of criteria that a claimant/s must fulfil in order to be entitled to compensation. The employer could have checked up on him during his . Ibid, at 576. Steyn's introductory observations in his speech in R(S) v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [2004] 1 WLR 2196, which concerned DNA, emphasised the public benefits in law enforcement agencies using new technology at [1]- [2]: "1. Interestingly, in this instance, the courts decided that it was not necessary for the plaintiff to actually witness the incident. Again this development of the proximity of relationship in this case seems quite unfair to some of the claimants who were seeking compensation as they would not have been aware previously of this .The principle of proximity of time and place was also applied in this case, where a claimant failed to recover. The plaintiff, Mr Smith was deemed to be a primary victim, since he was involved in the accident and risked personal injury. The plaintiff must show that the defendant owed duty of care not to cause the reasonably foreseeable nervous shock. The distinction between primary and secondary victims is well worth noting. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1986, and had four months off work. The plaintiffs wife had been walking up the . Interestingly, it was also stated the purpose of the visit was to identify the body and not to aid the injured or rescue victims as in other compensation cases. Acting for the Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police on the Hillsborough litigation in relation to the Inquests, Alcock (family PTSD claims) and Frost/White (police PTSD claims); Court of Appeal win in Webster v Ellison Circlips on automatic strike out. 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 that time she was three of four months advanced in pregnancy. [27] As per Lord Keith [1992] 1 AC 310 at page 397. . Is there any liability for self inflicted physical injury which caused the claimants psychiatric illness? The injuries were psychiatric, being suffered when they witnessed a crash from the ground. 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. [17] As per Mr. Bankes, Atkin and Sargant L.JJ [1925] 1 K.B 141 at page 142. [39] that- the defendant did not owe any duty of care towards the claimant for not causing a psychiatric injury by self inflicted physical injuries. But he further took the view that, there is no reported English case decision where it has been established that whether a defendant owes any duty of care towards the claimant for not causing him a psychiatric injury by self inflicted injuries. The court further considered the issue if both the claimants suffered nervous shock as a result of witnessing the accident. Subsequently, she learnt from a bystander that one of her children have sustained injury by that running motor lorry. 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. You should not treat any information in this essay as being authoritative. Cited Malcolm v Broadhurst QBD 1970 The principle of foreseeability of psychiatric injury is subject to the qualification that, where the psychiatric injury suffered by the plaintiff is consequential upon physical injury for which the defendant is responsible in law, the defendant . Such a relationship which is full of close tie and affection may be presumed to exist into the familial relationship or close friendship. This time the ground for appeal was whether the defendants could have reasonably foreseen the psychiatric illness suffered by the claimants or secondary victims. However, in this case, Lord Hope[36] adopted the explanation given by Lord Oliver in Alcock and held that, since there was no sufficient close tie of love between the claimants and the deceased, so therefore the claimants were not entitled to establish a successful claim for psychiatric illness. [57] A Selection Of Cases Illustrative of the English Law of Tort by Kenny, Courtney Stanhope: Fifth Edition. where the rescuer may not have been in physical danger but was awarded damages due to his putting himself in the 'zone of danger', after the event. Held: . !L . Two of the claimants found their relatives or friend severely injured whereby one of them had his relative who escaped unhurt. The case was known as Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Others [1997] 1 All ER 540 in the lower courts. Lord Wilberforce argued that it was necessary to develop further criteria including strict proximity in time, a close relationship, direct means of communication (personal witness). Evidence Law - Admissibility of Evidence Essays. The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. Take a look at some weird laws from around the world! 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. As a result of the negligence of the police department, ninety six spectators died in a massive crash and more than approximately four hundred spectators were severely injured in that accident. There was a fear that it would be difficult for the courts to distinguish between a genuine claim and a fictitious claim, and also the fear that if one person recovered, this would in turn lead to a possible floodgate of claims. He continued that, the claimants nervous shock was too remote as a head of damage. [1953] 1 All ER 617 at page 621. We do not provide advice. In relation to employer/employee relationship and duty of care the courts did not uphold the principles of the above cases. The case centred upon the liability of the police for the nervous shock suffered in consequence of the events of the Hillsborough disaster . Similarly there are some other cases where the claimants were not actually present at the scene of the accident but the court still held the defendant liable for negligently inflicting psychaitric injury to the claimants. Principle of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (1998) police officers who were present in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster sued for post traumatic stress disorder. In the Irish context, a different policy approach has been adopted and it appears to be more difficult to recover damages in relation to nervous shock , the strict criteria which have been laid down clearly demonstrate this viewpoint. [55] As per Denning LJ [1953] 1 All ER 617 at page 625. In Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire (1992) 1 AC 310 the ordinary rules of negligence were applied to allegedly negligent crowd control by the police. The reason for such unwillingness might be presumed that- the ordinary bystanders must be assumed to have sufficient strength or courage to undergo the calamities of modern life. In Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1999] AC 455 at 507H-508A, Lord Hoffman described Lord Oliver's explanation of these 'unwilling participant' cases as "an ex post facto rationalisation" and as "an elegant, not to say ingenious, explanation, which owes nothing to the. The House of Lords reversed the Court of Appeal decision in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1997] 1 All ER 540, which had found that the plaintiffs were primary victims, as rescuers. Again, there was neither any duty of care towards the claimant not to inflict any kind of physical injury or harm to himself nor there was any duty to the claimant not to cause him psychiatric injury by means of exposing him to the sight of the defendants self-inflicted injuries[40]. Before making any decision, you must read the full case report and take professional advice as appropriate. Free resources to assist you with your legal studies! It was held by Salmon J. That appears to be the course advocated by Mullany and Handford, Tort Liability for Psychiatric Damage. The court allowed the claims of Mr. McCarthy as he satisfied the Alcock criteria for recovery of claims for psychiatric illness. His Lordship further continued that, the present case is distinguishable from the case of King v Phillips[61]. This principle was later applied in Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police. He was a road worker instructed to attend by the defendant immediately after a terrible accident. Having witnessed the tragic death of Smith, both his workmates-Robertson and Rough suffered nervous shock. However, an action was brought by the mother for psychiatric injury against the defendant. The requirement of establishing proximity of relationship with the primary victims is one of the criteria. complexities encountered by the court in Frost in applying the principles laid down by Alcock v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police14 and Page v Smith15 are also highlighted. According to the facts of this case, the claimants (Robertson and Rough) and the primary victim (George Smith) used to work together with the defendants (Forth Road Bridge Board). Mental Health of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors. . It was admitted by the defendants that the accident took place due to their negligence. 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