The law of the defences to actions for tortiously inflicted death and Essay

The law of the defences to actions for tortiously inflicted death and serious injury lacks any conceptual coherence. It would be - Essay Example However, legislation in respect of this has reduced the scope of such defences. A general analysis of the defences would be made and their effect in respect of what is required would be considered. Prior to the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, contributory negligence of the Plaintiff would constitute to be a complete defence in respect of claims of negligence. The Act allows courts to allocate responsibility in respect of damage and attribute it accordingly between the defendant and claimant and then to apportion the claimant’s damages, thus making it a partial defence. Contributory Negligence is a defence which makes available a partial defence in respect of a claim in tort. The aspect of this defence is primarily concerned with the fact that the claimant was careless and this was a material cause in respect of the loss that he suffered. The defence therefore operates as a partial exclusion as to liability. The Act has simplified the law in respect of the defenc e. ... respect of the modern defence, that is, causation; concept of claimant’s fault; what is the position in respect of special elements in relation to certain claimants and how what they be accounted for; how the loss would be apportioned; and how the defence is to apply in respect of torts apart from negligence. The problem in respect of causation is the fact that the apportionment has to be made in accordance with the causation and takes into account the plaintiff’s carelessness as can be seen in McLew v. Holland and Hannen and Cubitts (Scotland) Ltd.1 whereby it was held that the plaintiff’s act was novus actus interveniens and therefore the chain of causation was broken. The last opportunity rule, even though, been discredited, was used in this case. However, the courts in Reeves v. Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis2 found that even though the deceased committed suicide, the causal link had not been broken. As far as the claimant’s fault is concern ed, there is no requirement of a duty of care being owed and the Act merely requires an act or omission and therefore torts, other than of negligence are also covered. After an evaluation of the contributory negligence that court would decrease the damages of the claimant ‘to such an extent as [it] thinks just and equitable having regard to [his] share in the responsibility for the damage’ (Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, s.1. The evaluation in respect of the deduction is therefore left at the discretion of the judges and an evaluation in this respect was made by Lord Denning in Davies v. Swan Motor Co.34 Damage in respect of Contributory Negligence include but is not limited to loss of life and personal injury. Thus it can apply to cases of pure economic loss as well. There have been