They claimed that because they were rescuers they should be treated as primary victims. Criticism o f this seem ingly unpalatable result has been widespread: see Law Com m ission Report 249, Liability for Psychiatric Illness, 1998 (Report) at [1.1]. Comparison of the Effect of Classical and Heavy Metal Music on Productivity and Mental Health. An employer has a duty to protect his employees from physical but not psychiatric harm unless there was also a physical injury. The courts in different cases have recognized different type of psychiatric illnesses. The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire admitted that a duty of care was owed by his force towards those who died or suffered physical injury as a result of negligent crowd control by . Although the term has been replaced by psychiatric illness but it reflects the approach of the law in such cases[2]. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1986, and had four months off work. In the case of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] Lord Steyn stated that the area of Tort Law relating to psychiatric trauma is rather complex. 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. In Kelly v Hennessy [1995] 3IR.253 CJ Hamilton laid down criteria, which have become the standard test for nervous shock. . The secondary victims must be close to the accident both in terms of time and place. In this instance, mental illness was accompanied by a physical trauma i.e. The Court of Appeal (by a majority) found in favour of all but one of the officers. A primary victim could now recover for psychiatric illness even when this is not reasonably foreseeable, so long as the physical injury, which need not actually occur, is foreseeable. This chapter considers the landmark decision in Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310 concerning liability for psychiatric injury, or 'nervous shock'. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKDiss.com purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on Reviews.io. D was under a duty to take reasonable steps to protect his employees from the risk of physical harm, but there was no extension of this duty to protect C from psychiatric harm when they were not exposed to any risk of physical injury. In this case, he categorized the victims in a psychiatric injury cases in to two main . The above judgment in White v The Chief Constable allowed the defendants' appeal against the 1997 Court of Appeal decision in Frost & Ors. He claimed damages from the respondent for contributory negligence of other officers in failing to come to his assistance. However, liability could not be avoided if the accident took place very close to him and was so horrific. 2 Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310. But, when a bystander of a horrible event suffers from psychiatric injury, it becomes very difficult for him or her to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric injury, since such a person is not closely connected to the injured person. .Cited Zurich Insurance Plc UK Branch v International Energy Group Ltd SC 20-May-2015 A claim had been made for mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, but the claim arose in Guernsey. View history. His widow claimed in nervous shock, saying that it had eventually led to his own death. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3-0'); Cited by: Cited Keen v Tayside Contracts OHCS 26-Feb-2003 The claimant sought damages for post traumatic stress disorder. [10] Kay Wheat (1998), Liability of psychiatric illness- the Law Commission Report Journal of Personal Injury Litigation. Case Summary Up until the early 20th century in England, courts have been reluctant to allow recovery for nervous shock. As a result of experiencing such a dreadful event she subsequently suffered severe nervous shock resulting in the form of psychatric illness. When the defendant started backing his car out, Keith Keel began to give directions to the defendant from behind the car in order to prevent any collision with the pillar or any other cars. The winner - given the power to fire the next chief constable - will inevitably prevail on an anti-corruption ticket. Secondly, C argued that they fell within the ambit of primary victims, and should thus be permitted to succeed with an ordinary claim in negligence. The secondary victims are required by the existing law to satisfy or establish additional criteria before they can bring a claim for psychiatric injury against the negligent defendant which has been discussed elaborately in the later chapters. Regretted Page v Smith HL 12-May-1995 The plaintiff was driving his car when the defendant turned into his path. The case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire[22]is the best example which provided the criteria for recovery of psychiatric injury claims by the secondary victims. He had returned to work, but again, did . 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. [45] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition. The term is used to describe psychiatric injury or illness which is caused by the defendant. 4 policeman (Ps) sued R (chief officer responsible at Hillsborough) for causing them nervous shock through his negligence in allowing the accident to occur. In my view the only sensible general strategy for the courts is to say thus far and no further. He went to the psychiatrist and took medical treatment. The injuries were psychiatric, being suffered when they witnessed a crash from the ground. The plaintiff must show that the defendant owed duty of care not to cause the reasonably foreseeable nervous shock. The requirement of immediate aftermath principle was firmly established in the case of Mcloughlin v O Brian[67]. The House of Lords in White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police clarified that rescuers are not a special category of primary victim. The second solution is to abolish all the special limiting rules applicable to psychiatric harm. Frost v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194. 34 [1996] 1 AC 155. Accordingly, in the case of Robertson and Rough v Forth Road Bridge Joint Board[35], the claimants brought an action against the defendants for a horrible disaster that took place on the Forth Road Bridge. miscarriage. Having studied this case, I feel it is significant for a number of reasons. 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 the case of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [5], . 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). Many of the 1.3 million residents of South Yorkshire have had enough. *You can also browse our support articles here >. In support of the first proposition, the defendants rely on the principles developed in a trilogy of House of Lords decisions commencing with Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310, continuing with Page v Smith [1996] AC 155, and culminating in White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455 (on . The judge found in favour of ten out of the plaintiffs and against six of them. Eventually, at about midnight, having gone to the mortuary he managed to identify the bruising dead body of his brother in law. hb```R !1CFAFCFAAA KP`L%T98;00`8A$B*oAjb 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]. 141. Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works [2003] 2 I.L.R.M.94. An action was brought by her husband for the loss of benefit of her services. If it was not reasonably forseeable then the defendant owes no duty of care to the claimant and there is no liability for negligence on the part of defendant. Only Parliament could take such a step. . Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194. 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. Many of the claimants witnessed horrific images and scenes of carnage on the television . The teenager, who is now fighting for his life, was struck by a blue Mini Cooper at the junction of Leeds Road and Muffit Lane in Heckmondwike. Cazalet J. agreed with the claimant that he meets all the recovery criteria that govern a claim for psychiatric injury sustained by him. Difficult point of law about the circumstances in which a defendant who owes a duty of care . . Also the plaintiff had to establish that the nervous shock caused by the accident, resulted from her fear for her own safety. The law has imposed lots of requirements for the secondary victims before they can successfully make a psychiatric injury claim. 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). [70] As per Griffith LJ [1981] 1 All ER 809 at page 829. Download Citation | Frost (or White) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455 | Essential Cases: Tort Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. Open Document. At trial she was awarded damages for nervous shock. As a result, the claimant suffered from a nervous shock. There are many examples where it has been seen that a person after sustaining a genuine shock could not recover damages for psychiatric illness only because of being failure to establish the fact that there was sufficient proximity of the secondary victim in time and place with the accident. The 2003 decision of Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works clearly demonstrates this point. The defendants car was standing inside the garage and he started backing the car out of the garage. [31] As per Lord Oliver [1992] 1 AC 310 at page 415-416. However, an action for psychatric injury was brought by the claimant against the defendant and the owners of the garage[57]. This time the ground for appeal was whether the defendants could have reasonably foreseen the psychiatric illness suffered by the claimants or secondary victims. .Cited Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd; similar HL 17-Oct-2007 The claimant sought damages for the development of neural plaques, having been exposed to asbestos while working for the defendant. Hall v gwent healthcare nhs trust 2004 qb c hall was. 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. The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. However, an action was brought by the mother for psychiatric injury against the defendant. The unsuccessful claimants made a cross appeal to the Court of Appeal against the judges decision whereby the defendants also appealed against the ten successful claimants. The distinction between primary and secondary victims is well worth noting. .Cited Waters v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis HL 27-Jul-2000 A policewoman, having made a complaint of serious sexual assault against a fellow officer complained again that the Commissioner had failed to protect her against retaliatory assaults. D h.d.CFPxe @0RI4 #Pm'Qc^FF" -P!P)Hljc6f.X{81,qxn;G#1t._!c 6jlw(9OAEiQ*Jr.JEW; v}qsF{-HE qx#>#erJ5$afH" :s8C1@( di4)bH'=8 pKzx2DjkZhh"lc+*`>p@>*& "$x Lord Goff said: because shock in its nature is capable of affecting so wide a range of people, there is a real need for the law to place some limitation upon the extent of admissible claims. In this instance, a victims brother in- law visited the stadium make shift morgue a few hours after the disaster . The presence of such plaques were symptomless, and would not themselves cause other asbestos related disease, but . Firstly, the secondary victims must prove that the relationship between him and the primary victim is so close that it was reasonably foreseeable by the defendants that he could have suffered nervous shock through the fear of the physical injury sustained by the primary victim. The Effect of Classical and Heavy Metal Music on Productivity and mental Health such plaques were symptomless, and four... 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