TORT SUPERVISION 7 REVISION
Breach of Statutory Duty & Product Liability
I. BREACH OF STATUTORY DUTY
INDICATORS
1. Intention of Parliament
Old rule – could bring action whenever you sustain harm from breach of statutory duty
Now – statute must have been intended to give rise to a civil action
Haphazard process
- Lord Carnwarth in Campbell v Gordon looked at wording of Statute
- Lord Touslon dissented – said you must look at variety of indicators
2. Protection of class
Indicator of Parliamentary intent – statute was passed for the protection of a limited class of the public,
and not the benefit of the public as a whole
X v Bedfordshire CC
This is not conclusive though (Cutler v Wandsworth)
Exception: “Where the statute created a public right and a particular member of the public suffers what
Brett J in Benjamin v Storr described as ‘particular, direct and substantial’ damage ‘other and different
from that which was common to all the rest of public”
- Lord Diplock in Lonrho Ltd v Shell Petroleum Co Ltd
3. Nature of legislation
Unlikely that private law duty will be found in legislation on social welfare – property remedy for
maladministration is judicial review
O’Rourke v Camden LBC
4. Remedies
If there are no other remedies/other adequate remedies for breach – might be an indicator towards
Parliamentary intention
This is not conclusive – Groves v Lord Wimborne
5. Type of Injury
If a loss is of a type not recoverable under the general law of tort – indicator away from Parliamentary
intent
EUROPEAN LEGISLATION
Following conditions must be satisfied:
1) The law infringed must be intended to confer rights on the individual
2) (In any case where the state has any element of discretion) the breach by the Member State must be
sufficiently serious
3) There must be a direct casual link between the breach and the damage sustained by the claimant
NB: This is wider than the common law notion of breach of statutory duty; most obviously, it allows an action
where the legislation itself is in breach of Community law
ELEMENTS OF THE TORT
1. Duty must be owed to the claimant
C must be member of the protected class
2. Injury must be the kind which the statute is intended to prevent
Can’t twist an action if you suffer a dfferent kind of loss
Gorris v Scott
3. Scope of the Statutory Duty
Has to be within sphere of application
4. Standard of conduct
In some cases the statute imposes an unqualified obligation e.g. an absolute duty that a certain state of
affairs shall exist. In such cases – the non-existence of that state of affairs constitutes the breach
Best known example – s.14 of the Factories Act 1961 requires that “every part of any machinery…shall
be securely fenced”
5. Causation: conduct of claimant
Breach of Statutory Duty & Product Liability
I. BREACH OF STATUTORY DUTY
INDICATORS
1. Intention of Parliament
Old rule – could bring action whenever you sustain harm from breach of statutory duty
Now – statute must have been intended to give rise to a civil action
Haphazard process
- Lord Carnwarth in Campbell v Gordon looked at wording of Statute
- Lord Touslon dissented – said you must look at variety of indicators
2. Protection of class
Indicator of Parliamentary intent – statute was passed for the protection of a limited class of the public,
and not the benefit of the public as a whole
X v Bedfordshire CC
This is not conclusive though (Cutler v Wandsworth)
Exception: “Where the statute created a public right and a particular member of the public suffers what
Brett J in Benjamin v Storr described as ‘particular, direct and substantial’ damage ‘other and different
from that which was common to all the rest of public”
- Lord Diplock in Lonrho Ltd v Shell Petroleum Co Ltd
3. Nature of legislation
Unlikely that private law duty will be found in legislation on social welfare – property remedy for
maladministration is judicial review
O’Rourke v Camden LBC
4. Remedies
If there are no other remedies/other adequate remedies for breach – might be an indicator towards
Parliamentary intention
This is not conclusive – Groves v Lord Wimborne
5. Type of Injury
If a loss is of a type not recoverable under the general law of tort – indicator away from Parliamentary
intent
EUROPEAN LEGISLATION
Following conditions must be satisfied:
1) The law infringed must be intended to confer rights on the individual
2) (In any case where the state has any element of discretion) the breach by the Member State must be
sufficiently serious
3) There must be a direct casual link between the breach and the damage sustained by the claimant
NB: This is wider than the common law notion of breach of statutory duty; most obviously, it allows an action
where the legislation itself is in breach of Community law
ELEMENTS OF THE TORT
1. Duty must be owed to the claimant
C must be member of the protected class
2. Injury must be the kind which the statute is intended to prevent
Can’t twist an action if you suffer a dfferent kind of loss
Gorris v Scott
3. Scope of the Statutory Duty
Has to be within sphere of application
4. Standard of conduct
In some cases the statute imposes an unqualified obligation e.g. an absolute duty that a certain state of
affairs shall exist. In such cases – the non-existence of that state of affairs constitutes the breach
Best known example – s.14 of the Factories Act 1961 requires that “every part of any machinery…shall
be securely fenced”
5. Causation: conduct of claimant
