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Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945

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29: 133:"Where any person suffers damage as the result partly of his own fault and partly of the fault of any other person(s), a claim in respect of that damage will not be defeated by reason of the fault of the person suffering the damage, but the damages recoverable in respect thereof shall be reduced to such extent as the court thinks just and equitable having regard to the claimant's share in the responsibility for the damage." 150:
was a full defence to negligence. This rule composed what is sometimes called the "unholy trinity" of defences to negligence which wrought particular hardship on 19th century workers, and barred them from any compensation for ghastly workplace injuries (the other two are
161:). It meant that if an employer was 99% at fault for his worker being mangled in his machinery, but the worker was 1% at fault, then the worker could recover nothing in compensation for injuries. Outside the workplace, an example of the defence is found in 211:
In the UK, before the wearing of car seatbelts become obligatory, difficult legal questions arose when a passenger who failed to wear a seatbelt was injured. If the passenger had voluntarily chosen not to wear a seatbelt, was that person
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of the United Kingdom, which allows a judge to apportion liability for compensatory damages as he feels to be "just and equitable" between a tortfeasor and an injured person who was partly to blame. Section 1(1) of the Act provides:
276: 194:
of 1910 had already provided that where two ships collide, blame may be apportioned between the two, so that each's contribution to the accident may be calculated to determine the settlement by way of
269: 199: 249:, and he thereby ensured that the injured passenger could successfully claim against the driver's insurance, albeit that the claim would be only 80% of the loss. 187:
where the claimant conceded that a burning ship accident was unforeseeable in order to avoid the contemporary Australian contributory negligence bar.
375: 247:"determining whether one is guilty of contributory negligence is a matter not of the cause of the accident, but of the cause of the damage" 390: 202:. Normally blame would be apportioned in simple ratios; 50:50, 60:40, 75:25, etc.) Only rarely would the proportion be 100:0, as in 175: 51: 103: 181:
This harsh common law defence subsisted longer in other countries than in the United Kingdom. An example is seen in
380: 263: 163: 33: 191: 167:
where a grandmother and an infant that were hit by a negligently driven train were barred from any claim.
385: 370: 96: 214: 157: 147: 46:
An Act to amend the law relating to contributory negligence and for purposes connected therewith.
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but rather was 20% contributorily negligent in the matter. Denning MR declared that
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1 QB 286; 3 WLR 379; 3 All ER 520; 2 Lloyd's Rep 478; RTR 518; (1975) 119 SJ 613
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Singularis Holdings Limited (in liquidation) v Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Limited
258: 143: 121: 56: 333: 174:, along with a number of other workplace safety and common law reforms (e.g., 364: 106:
as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from
238: 231: 171: 79: 198:. Often, blameworthiness reflected each party's degree of breach of the 226:
defence, the passenger would fail in a claim for negligence. In
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This 1945 Act was not based on entirely new principles: the
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The Act was passed by the new Labour government following
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Text of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945
362: 118:Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 22:Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 241:by declaring that such a passenger was NOT 137: 176:Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 376:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1945 363: 97:Text of statute as originally enacted 13: 14: 402: 391:Law reform in the United Kingdom 264:Misrepresentation in English law 164:Waite v North-Eastern Railway Co 34:Parliament of the United Kingdom 27: 349: 337: 323: 311: 302: 288: 1: 7: 270:Gran Gelato Ltd v Richcliff 252: 90:Status: Current legislation 10: 407: 299:(1837) 3 Mees & Wels 1 142:Until the Act was passed, 18:United Kingdom legislation 102: 95: 88: 78: 73: 63: 50: 40: 26: 282: 65:Territorial extent  381:United Kingdom tort law 158:volenti non fit injuria 148:contributory negligence 218:to the injury? If so, 184:The Wagon Mound (No 1) 135: 138:Historical background 131: 192:Collision Convention 308:(1858) EB&E 719 23: 108:legislation.gov.uk 21: 386:Law of negligence 296:Priestly v Fowler 153:common employment 126:Act of Parliament 114: 113: 398: 371:English tort law 356: 353: 347: 341: 335: 327: 321: 315: 309: 306: 300: 292: 259:English tort law 144:English tort law 122:8 & 9 Geo. 6 66: 57:8 & 9 Geo. 6 31: 30: 24: 20: 406: 405: 401: 400: 399: 397: 396: 395: 361: 360: 359: 354: 350: 344:Froom V Butcher 342: 338: 328: 324: 316: 312: 307: 303: 293: 289: 285: 255: 228:Froom v Butcher 140: 124:. c. 28) is an 91: 64: 36: 28: 19: 12: 11: 5: 404: 394: 393: 388: 383: 378: 373: 358: 357: 348: 336: 322: 310: 301: 286: 284: 281: 280: 279: 274: 266: 261: 254: 251: 146:had held that 139: 136: 112: 111: 100: 99: 93: 92: 89: 86: 85: 82: 76: 75: 71: 70: 69:United Kingdom 67: 61: 60: 54: 48: 47: 44: 38: 37: 32: 17: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 403: 392: 389: 387: 384: 382: 379: 377: 374: 372: 369: 368: 366: 355:Case summary 352: 345: 340: 334: 331: 326: 319: 314: 305: 298: 297: 291: 287: 278: 275: 272: 271: 267: 265: 262: 260: 257: 256: 250: 248: 244: 240: 236: 233: 229: 225: 221: 217: 216: 209: 207: 206: 201: 197: 193: 188: 186: 185: 179: 177: 173: 168: 166: 165: 160: 159: 154: 149: 145: 134: 130: 127: 123: 119: 109: 105: 101: 98: 94: 87: 83: 81: 77: 72: 68: 62: 58: 55: 53: 49: 45: 43: 39: 35: 25: 16: 351: 343: 339: 329: 325: 320:1 All ER 211 317: 313: 304: 294: 290: 268: 246: 242: 239:Gordian knot 232:Lord Denning 227: 223: 219: 213: 210: 203: 189: 182: 180: 172:World War II 169: 162: 156: 141: 132: 117: 115: 84:15 June 1945 80:Royal assent 15: 332:case report 330:The Oropesa 318:The Oropesa 237:sliced the 205:The Oropesa 365:Categories 42:Long title 253:See also 224:complete 222:being a 52:Citation 243:volenti 220:volenti 215:volenti 200:COLREGS 196:damages 59:. c. 28 273:Ch 560 283:Notes 74:Dates 155:and 116:The 178:). 367:: 235:MR 230:, 208:. 120:( 110:.

Index

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title
Citation
8 & 9 Geo. 6
Royal assent
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945
legislation.gov.uk
8 & 9 Geo. 6
Act of Parliament
English tort law
contributory negligence
common employment
volenti non fit injuria
Waite v North-Eastern Railway Co
World War II
Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948
The Wagon Mound (No 1)
Collision Convention
damages
COLREGS
The Oropesa
volenti
Lord Denning
MR
Gordian knot
English tort law
Misrepresentation in English law
Gran Gelato Ltd v Richcliff
Singularis Holdings Limited (in liquidation) v Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Limited

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