Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

UKSC in Robinson restricts Hill immunity: police owe duty for positive acts; incremental duty of care reaffirmed; Caparo policy test confined; broader implications for public authority negligence

Published on: 20 February 2018

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Legal News

Article summary

Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2018] UKSC 4, [2018] All ER (D) 47 (Feb) What are the practical implications of the decision?

In this ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed there is no blanket immunity excluding police liability in the context of preventing and investigating crime. The police owe a duty of care, consistent with orthodox tort principles, not to inflict foreseeable personal injury on others by their affirmative acts. Defence practitioners have called it the most significant police case in a generation. Because the Court articulated wide principles regarding duties of care in tort and the accountability of public bodies, the ramifications extend well beyond the traditional bounds of civil claims against the police. The Court therefore reasserted conventional tort doctrine over the more recent judicial practice of resolving matters through policy-balancing to decide whether it is just, fair and reasonable to recognise a duty. The judgment may prompt a re‑calibration of the law in other fields, including the liability of social...

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