Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
History of Tort (Law as a non-compensation system (Formal legal rules have…
History of Tort
Law as a non-compensation system
Formal legal rules have always obstructed compensation
Defence of consent or assumption of risk
Defence of common employment
Defence of Contributory Negligence
Living Law obstructing Compensation
Jobs
Keeping job was more important than the slim chance to get compensation
Negotiations with the Injured
Any receipt that showed a payment by the employer meant that no lawsuit could be brought forward by the injured party
Welfare and medical treatment
Work payments and care costs only paid if employee agreed not to sue
Different Expectations of life
Culture of low expectations meant people were not used to suing under the law
People more likely to blame themselves for the accident rather than their employers
Connections between law and Society
3 Major changes during the industrial revolution
Injuries to working people increased
Increased accidents due to machinery and new modes of transportation
Sources of support for accident victims was changed
Decrease in the idea of an extended family in the community and people started keeping themselves to themselves
Basis of liability in tort was changed
Textbooks often say this was caused by the other 2 factors, but there is no evidence to support this
Many claim that the courts changed the law to stop a flood of claims, but most still wouldn't have had the capacity to claim in tort
Many claim the law was changed to protect businesses from paying damages, but insurance would have protected them and the payouts were so low it wouldn't have made a difference
Relationship of IR and tort
Before IR most accident victims got help from family and friends
Most didn't want to claim for a few reasons
People reluctant to sue those they were in close proximity to
Most people had limited access to the law to recover losses
Low expectations of length and enjoyment of life
With the IR can a new wave of thinking, whereby people started to make more responsibility for their actions, which in turn led to a change in tort from strict liability to fault-based liability
Alternatives to tort
Workman's Compensation Act 1897
Introduced weekly payments to those unable to work due to injury
Worked for people with injuries where there was someone to blame and those who had no-one to blame for their injuries