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A HISTORICAL EXAMINATION OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY: A “VERITABLE UPAS TREE”?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2019

Warren Swain Open the ORCID record for Warren Swain [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

Vicarious liability was, and it remains, curiously unsatisfactory. After a period of stability from the Middle Ages into the early modern period in the late seventeenth into the early eighteenth century, the existing law of vicarious liability began to be challenged. The mid-nineteenth century saw another reappraisal coinciding with the rise of notions of fault. The period that follows, from the late nineteenth century until after the Second World War period has not attracted much comment. One key debate in this period and earlier which provides a useful lens to examine the doctrine was whether vicarious liability should be properly characterised as a master's or servant's tort theory. The history of the doctrine during this period goes some way to explaining why the modern law remains incoherent.

Keywords

vicarious liabilityhistorymaster's tort theoryservant's tort theory
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Articles
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The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , November 2019 , pp. 640 - 661
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Copyright © Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors 2019 

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Footnotes

*

Professor, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Auckland.

I am grateful to Dr Stelios Tofaris and the anonymous reviewers for their comments. Any errors remain my own. I would also like to thank Professor David Ibbetson for checking a reference that was unavailable to me in New Zealand.

References

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2 For example, the tree is the subject of a poem by Pushkin, “The Upas Tree”.

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6 Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc. [2016] A.C. 677.

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8 Ibid.

9 Some recent examples that were appealed to the highest court include: Lister v Hesley Hall [2002] 1 A.C. 215; Catholic Child Welfare Society and others v Various Claimants [2013] 2 A.C. 1; Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association and others [2014] A.C. 537. There are also numerous examples in other jurisdictions including: Bazeley v Curry [1999] 2 S.C.R. 534; Jacobi v Griffiths [1999] 2 S.C.R. 570; EDG v Hammer [2003] 2 S.C.R. 459; New South Wales v Lepore (2003) 212 C.L.R. 511. For a critical reflection on the recent authorities, see P. Giliker, “Analysing Institutional Liability for Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales and Australia: Vicarious Liability, Non-delegable Duties and Statutory Intervention” [2018] C.L.J. 506.

10 Catholic Child Welfare Society [2013] 2 A.C. 1; Cox v Ministry of Justice [2016] A.C. 660; Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council [2017] 3 W.L.R. 1000. A recent Court of Appeal decision suggests that there can be vicarious liability for the torts of independent contractors: Barclays Bank Plc. v Various Claimants [2018] EWCA (Civ.) 1670.

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35 Tuberville v Stamp (1697) 1 Ld. Raym. 264, 12 Mod. 152, Carth. 425, Comb. 459, Comyns 32, Holt 9, Skin. 681.

36 Ibid., at pp. 264–65. For the influence of Holt C.J., see Lord Toulson, Mohamud [2016] A.C. 677, 684.

37 Boucher v Lawson (1734) Cas. T. Hard. 85, 88 (by counsel for the defendant).

38 Middleton v Fowler (1699) 2 Salk. 282; Jones v Hart (1699) 2 Salk. 441.

39 Laugher v Pointer (1826) 5 B. & C. 547.

40 Lane v Cotton (1700–1701) 1 Salk. 17, 18; Hern v Nichols (undated) 1 Salk. 289.

41 Originally as a result of the Statute of Labourers (1349) 23 Edw. III c 1–8. For the later history, see Hay, D., “England, 1562–1875” in Hay, D. and Craven, P. (eds.), Masters, Servants and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire, 1562–1955 (Chapel Hill 2004), 59, 62–82Google Scholar.

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43 Bartonshill Coal Co. v McGuire (1858) 3 Macq. 300.

44 Ibid., at p. 306.

45 Hutchinson v York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (1850) 5 Ex. 343. See also Tolhausen v Davies (1888) 58 L.J.Q.B. 98, 99.

46 Ibid., at p. 350.

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57 Ibid., at p. 265.

58 For a seminal account of enterprise liability, see Calabresi, G., “Some Thoughts on Risk Distribution and the Law of Torts” (1961) 70 Y.L.J. 499CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 500.

59 Bush v Steinman (1799) 1 B. & P. 404.

60 Ibid., at p. 409.

61 Ibid., at p. 406.

62 Reedie v London and North Western Railway Co. (1849) 4 Ex. 244, 20 L.J. Ex. 65, 13 Jur. 659. For a discussion of these cases, see Ibbetson, Obligations, pp. 182–83.

63 For an isolated example, see Duncan v Findlater (1839) 6 Cl. & F. 894, 910.

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74 Ibid., at p. 12. Baty suggests that this explains the liability of innkeepers for the loss or damage of a guest's goods.

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77 Ibid., at p. 134.

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81 Ibid., at p. 154.

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96 Dyer v Munday [1895] 1 Q.B. 742 (CA).

97 Offences Against the Person Act (1861) 24 & 25 Vict. c 100, s. 45.

98 Dyer [1895] 1 Q.B. 742, 746–47, per Lord Esher M.R., 748, per Rigby L.J.

99 For a typically thorough treatment of the question, see the judgment of McCardie J. in Gottliffe v Edelston [1930] 2 K.B. 378.

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101 Ibid., at p. 425.

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103 Ibid., at p. 1009.

104 Ibid., at p. 1010. The decision was Schubert v August Schubert Wagon Co. (1928) 164 N.E. 43.

105 Broom v Morgan [1953] 1 Q.B. 597.

106 Ibid., at p. 602.

107 Ibid., at p. 612.

108 Ibid., at p. 608.

109 Ibid., at p. 607.

110 Law Reform (Husband and Wife) Act 1962, s. 1.

111 Twine v Bean's Express Ltd. [1946] 1 All E.R. 202.

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115 It is commonly, but erroneously, attributed to Priestley v Fowler (1837) 3 M. & W. 1. See Simpson, A.W. B., Leading Cases in the Common Law (Oxford 1995), 100–34Google Scholar. Fears about the scope of vicarious liability, if the claim were to succeed, may have been an important factor in the outcome: Stein, M., “Priestley v. Fowler (1837) and the Emerging Tort of Negligence” (2003) 44 B.C.L.Rev. 689Google Scholar, at 700.

116 Hutchinson (1850) 5 Ex. 343; Bartonshill Coal Company (1858) 3 Macq 282.

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121 Wilson & Clyde Coal Company Ltd. [1938] A.C. 57, 74.

122 Lister [1939] A.C. 215.

123 Ibid., at p. 235.

124 Ibid., at p. 246.

125 Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948, s. 1.

126 Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945.

127 Jones v Staveley Iron and Chemical Co. Ltd. [1955] 1 Q.B. 474.

128 Ibid., at p. 480.

129 Ibid., at p. 484.

130 Ibid., at p. 482.

131 Staveley Iron and Chemical Co. Ltd. v Jones [1956] 1 A.C. 627.

132 Ibid., at p. 643.

133 Ibid., at p. 644.

134 Ibid.

135 Ibid., at p. 671.

136 Ibid., at pp. 646–47.

137 Ibid., at p. 646.

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141 Lewis, Winfield, p. 173.

142 Admittedly, the language of master and servant was slow to die out. It continued to be used by successive editors of Winfield's treatise.

143 And not just in England and Wales; see Darling Island Stevedoring and Lighterage Co. Ltd. v Long (1957) 97 C.L.R. 36, 56–57, per Fullagar J.

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145 Two case notes in the Cambridge Law Journal discuss this point at some length: Hamson, C.J., “Tort –Master's Vicarious Liability to Spouse of Servant” [1954] C.L.J. 45CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wedderburn, K.W., “Negligence – Standard of Care – Vicarious Lability” [1955] C.L.J. 151CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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147 Ibid., at p. 609.

148 Jones [1955] 1 Q.B. 474.

149 Ibid., at p. 480.

150 Wilson & Clyde Coal Company Ltd. [1938] A.C. 57.

151 Cassidy v Ministry of Health [1951] 2 Q.B. 343, 359–60; Roe v Ministry of Health [1954] 2 Q.B. 66, 82. In part, this may be motivated by a desire to limit the liability of doctors and, more generally, judicial reluctance to find that doctors have failed to meet the requisite standard of care, see Swain, W., “The Development of Medical Liability in England and Wales” in Hondius, E. (ed.), The Development of Medical Liability (Cambridge 2010), 27, 42–44Google Scholar.

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153 Non-delegable duties are sometimes conflated with vicarious liability. For a discussion of that issue, see Stevens, R., “Non-delegable Duties and Vicarious Liability” in Neyers, J. et al. (eds.), Emergent Issues in Tort Law (Oxford 2007), 331–68Google Scholar; Morgan, J., “Liability for Independent Contractors in Contract and Tort: Duties to Ensure that Care is Taken” [2015] C.L.J. 109CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 120.

154 Traditionally whilst an employer could not be vicariously liable for an independent contractor, they could be liable by way of a non-delegable duty: Woodland [2014] A.C. 537, 573–74. In addition to the literature ibid., see Williams, G., “Liability for Independent Contractors” [1956] C.L.J. 180CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

155 Staveley Iron and Chemical Co. Ltd. [1956] 1 A.C. 627, 639.

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157 For a cogent criticism of this approach, see Morgan, “Independent Contractors”, p. 128.

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160 Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. v Shatwell [1965] A.C. 656.

161 Ibid., at p. 685.

162 Launchbury v Morgans [1973] A.C. 127.

163 Ibid., at p. 140, per Viscount Dilhorne, 140, per Lord Pearson.

164 Ibid., at p. 140.

165 For a rather sanguine endorsement of the idea, see Woodland [2014] A.C. 537, 590, per Baroness Hale.

166 For a discussion, see Swain, “Vicarious Liability”, pp. 108–10. Enterprise liability has been heavily criticised by Gray, Vicarious Liability, pp. 123–48, but it has found favour in a number of contexts in the modern law; see Brodie, Enterprise Liability. For a striking example in the context of vicarious liability, see Cox [2016] A.C. 660.

167 Stevens, Torts, pp. 257–74.

168 For a recent obiter endorsement of the master's tort theory, see Ancient Order of Foresters in Victoria Friendly Society Ltd. v Lifeplan Australia Friendly Society Ltd. [2018] HCA 43, at [5].