Yesterday, was a Public Holiday in England, for the Royal Wedding. At time like this it is a pleasure to work and live in  London. Have a look at the vide and see what you think?  

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A Rising and Brooding Omnipresence in the Sky – European Union Laws

A former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, once described European Union Law as being such that it would rise and flow into every aspect of English life.  The law of the European Union would have a huge impact on the Laws of England and Wales.

The European Union’s lawmakers produce on average one hundred pieces of legislation each year and they now reach almost every part of English life.

We outline below some of the best known European Union Laws:  

1. The Working Time Directive . This Directive stipulates a minimum of four weeks’holiday, a maximum weekly working time limit of forty –eight hours and a minimum rest period of twenty minutes in any shift of more than six hours.
2.       Part-time Worker’s Regulation. Entitles people who work part-time to claim the same contractual rights as full-time workers when their work is broadly similar. This includes salary, holiday, sick pay and pensions.
3. Agency Worker Directive. Changes that come into effect in October 2011 will give agency workers employed by the same business for twelve weeks the same rights, including salary, holiday leave and bonuses, as full-time staff.
4. Beaches.  European Union Law outlines the cleanliness guidelines on water quality at beaches to limit the amount of bacteria in the water where people can swim.
5. Cheap Internet Access . The “local loop” network provision gave everyone in Europe cheaper Internet access by increasing the number of companies able to provide access to the web.
6. Food. Under European Union Law ingredients used in food products must be listed. Any genetically modified ingredients must be clearly marked, as must colouring, preservatives, sweeteners and other chemical additives.

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Please note our new telephone number as of 15th April, 2011 will be that of +44(0)20 3178 5780.

Owen Lowry - Notary Public

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Telephone number  :  +44(0)20 3178 5780

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The Laws developed for the Internet are being applied by the Courts of various jurisdictions to Titter postings. In England in some Courts it is possible for Court reporters to use Twitter postings to actually communicate about the development of a Court Trial.

As was done with the laws which were applied to the Internet, when the use of the Internet posed legal challenges, by analogy the exisiting laws of countries are being applied to this new medium of communication.

We are seeing that the events in Egypt and Tunisia, were influenced by the users of Twitter postings as a means to communicate.

Quite a few pop stars and movie actors use Twitter postings as a means of communicating with their fans. English Premier League Football Teams and Corporations are using Twitter postings to communicate to their Football Supporters and to their Shareholders.

Sometimes Tweets postings are made when someone is angry and consequently those Tweets postings are viewed by other Twitter Users who might take exception to the what is being said in Tweets. Legal action can be taken against the person who posted the Tweets.  The Laws of Defamation and the other aspects of the law can be used against a person posting on Twitter should the reader take exception to what is posted. if in doubt about what you should and should not post on Twitter, contact us.

Further information concerning this developing aspect of the Law,  can be provided by Lowry LLP by either ringing us on +44(0)20 3178 5780 or by completing our online enquiry form.  

Expert witnesses lose immunity from suit

Supreme Court Law Report 31^st March 2011

London, England

Jones V. Kaney

Before Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Brown of Eaton – under – Heywood, Lord Collins of Mapesbury, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore and Lord Dyson. Judgement 30^th march 2011.

The 400 year old rule that immunity from suit for breach of duty that expert witnesses had enjoyed in relation to their participation in legal proceedings should be abolished.

There was no justification for continuing to hold expert witnesses immune from suit in negligence in relation to the evidence they gave in court or for the views they expressed in anticipation of court proceedings.

The Supreme Court so held by a majority, Lord Hope and Lady Hale dissenting, in allowing an appeal by the claimant, Paul Wynne Jones, from Justice Blake ([ 2010]EWHC 61 (QB) who struck out his claim for negligence against the defendant, Sue Kaney, a clinical psychologist, in respect of her preparation of a joint experts’ action brought by Mr Jones following a road traffic action.

Lord Phillips said that in Stanton v Callaghan (The Times 25^th July 1998 : [1998] QB 75) the Court of Appeal held that the immunity of an expert witness extended to protect him from liability for negligence in preparing a joint statement for use in legal proceedings.  

The claim in the present case related precisely to such negligence and was, for that reason struck out.

The judge, however, granted a leapfrog certificate under Section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1969.

Surprisingly, the immunity conferred on an expert witness from liability in negligence in relation to performance of his duties in that capacity had never been challenged in the past. It had simply been accepted that an immunity which protected witnesses of fact applied equally to prevent a client from suing in negligence the expert that he had retained.

The immunity of expert witnesses had a long history, dating back over 400 years. Thus the immunity was established long before the development of the modern law of negligence and long before it became common for forensic experts to offer their services under contracts for reward.

However, there was no reported case where immunity was invoked against a claim for breach of a duty of care brought against a professional expert witness by his client before Palmer v Durnford (The Times 11th November, 1991;[1992]QB 483), which applied by analogy the decision in relation to the advocate’s immunity  from suit in Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell & Co (The Times 3^rd November, 1978;[1980] AC 198).

In Arthur J.S. Hall & Co v Simons (The Times 21^st July, 2000;[2002] 1 AC 615) the House of Lords abolished immunity from liability in negligence in the case of barristers, without questioning the immunity of experts.

 Was the experts’ immunity justified? The general principle was that no wrong should be without a remedy.

Accordingly, the issue was whether the abolition of immunity would probably be attended by such disadvantage to the public interest as to make its retention clearly justifiable.

His Lordship could see no justification for the assumption that, if expert witnesses were liable to be sued for breach of duty, they would be discouraged from providing their services at all. Why should the risk of being sued in relation to forensic services constitute a greater disincentive to the provision of such services than did the risk of being sued in relation to any other form of professional service? The principal justification for immunity that the defendant urged was that it was necessary to ensure that the expert performed his duty to the court.

That duty required him, whether when attempting to reach agreement with the expert on the other side, or when giving evidence to the court, to give his honest opinion, even if that proved adverse to his client’s case.

The defendant submitted that the expert would have some apprehension about taking such a course and that immunity from suit was necessary to allay that apprehension.

However, as expert witnesses had, to date, had the benefit of immunity, how they would behave if that immunity was removed had to be a matter of conjecture or, more accurately, reasoned. But if reasoning was applied, it did not support the defendant’s thesis.

An expert’s initial advice was likely to be for the benefit of his client alone. It was on the basis of that advice that the client was likely to decide whether to proceed with his claim, or the terms on which to settle it.

If the expert subsequently formed the view, or was persuaded, that his initial advice was over optimistic, or  that there was some weakness in his client’s case which he had not appreciated, his duty to the court was frankly to concede his change of view.

The witness of integrity would do so.

It was possible that some experts might not have that integrity. They might be reluctant to admit to the weakness in their client’s case because of loyalty to the client and his team, or because of a disinclination to admit to having erred in the initial opinion.

His Lordship questioned, however, whether their reluctance would be because of a fear of being sued; at least a fear of being sued for the opinion given to the court. An expert would be well aware of his duty to the court and that if he frankly accepted that he had changed his view, it would be apparent that he was performing that duty.

There was a lesson to be learnt from the position of barristers. It was always believed that it was necessary that barristers should be immune from suit in order to ensure that they were not inhibited from performing their duty to the court. Yet removal of their immunity had not resulted in any diminution of the advocate’s readiness to perform that duty.

His Lordship also doubted whether the removal of expert witness immunity would lead to a proliferation of vexatious claims or a risk of multiplicity of suits. Accordingly, no justification had been shown to continuing to hold expert witnesses immune from suit in relation to the evidence they gave in court or for the views they expressed in anticipation of court proceedings.

It follows that the immunity from suit for breach of duty that expert witnesses had enjoyed in relation to their participation in legal proceedings should be abolished.

His Lordship emphasised that that conclusion did not extend to the absolute privilege that they enjoyed in respect of claims in defamation.

Lord Brown, Lord Collins, Lord Kerr and Lord Dyson delivered concurring judgments.

Lord Hope, dissenting, said that the lack of a secure principled basis for removing immunity, the lack of a clear dividing line between what was to be affected by the removal and what was not, the uncertainties that would cause and the lack of reliable evidence to indicate what the effects might be suggested that the wiser course would be to leave matters as they stood.

If there was a need to reform the law in this area, it would be better dealt with by Parliament following the report by the Law Commission.

Lady Hale  also delivered a dissenting judgment.   

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