Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Intro:
1.) When is there a Civil Action?
2.) What Does the Plaintiff has to Establish?
3.) Defences.
breach, did not go into the pocket of the individual but was a public
penalty was evidence that the Act did not give a cause of action to an
individual in respect of its breach and that the purpose behind the fine was
simply to impose a security for performance of the statutory duty.
These cases are difficult to reconcile and it is not clear that whether a
plaintiff has a cause of action in tort where the statute provides another
remedy. Probably, Atkinson will be followed nowadays and Grooves
may be distinguished due to the fact that it fell within the first exception of
Lord Diplock, i.e. a statute enacted for the benefit of a class. Moreover,
Grooves was a case of industrial safety legislation which the courts treat
more favourably to the claimant than other legislation.
Another crucial factor considered by the courts is the fact that the
plaintiff had available to him a sufficient remedy at common law, and this
may affect the willingness of the court to conclude that the plaintiff also has
available to him a tort action in respect of the breach of statutory duty.
the Act was intended to protect the plaintiff himself, or a class of persons to
which the plaintiff belong. For instance, the statute may be enacted for the
protection of workers in an industry. If the person injured by a breach of the
statutory duty is a visitor and not a worker, there will not be a claim
(although the plaintiff may have an action in negligence).
III.) Defences:
The defence of volenti is not available where an employer has
breached his statutory duty and in consequence one of his employees
suffers damage, unless the case falls within the narrow confines of ICI v.
Shatwell.