New Negligence Law for England & Wales proposed
The Ministry of Justice has proposed additional factors for consideration when deciding negligence cases that seek to ‘tackle the growth of compensation culture’ and support employers.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has announced plans to introduce new legislation that require courts to take into account the context of an incident if a negligence case is brought. In particular, they will need to give weight to the following factors:
– whether the person who may have been acting negligently was doing something for ‘the benefit of society’, such as volunteering, running an event or trip, or helping out by clearing snow, when the accident occurred;
– whether that person had been acting in a ‘generally responsible way’; and,
– whether they were ‘acting in an emergency’.
In its press release, the Ministry of Justice also intends to bring forward measures that: ‘provide greater protection to small business owners who face challenges from irresponsible employees even if they have taken a responsible approach to safety training and procedures.’
Once introduced, the new legislation is expected to come into effect next year.
Article courtesy of CaseCheck.
