Employer's liability towards his employees and third parties

Abstract

Developments both in the sphere of industry and law, have brought to light deficiencies in those systems of law, ours included, based on the concept of fault. These developments, are principally, technological advances, which through the widespread use of machines, are a major cause of accidents in industry, and the corporate ownership of industry. These two developments, tend to defy the principal that lies at the basis of our system, that the man who causes injury must compensate the victim. The principal aim of this Thesis has been to discuss the implications of our system of law relating to employers' liability, in the light of these developments. Certain discernible trends, in both legislation and judicial reasoning, seems to be favouring the plaintiff more than in the past. However, nothing spectacular has been achieved. For instance legislation such as the Employer's Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act, 1974, has failed to grasp a golden opportunity to impose a stricter basis of liability on the employer, and only imposed on him the duty to insure himself against his liability for personal injury to his employees. Another point I kept in mind, has been to give illustrations by quoting examples from case-law in the common law system. This has been done for two main reasons; principally because, rather than give hypothetical examples, I thought it would be more practical to illustrate a point, by means of cases decided elsewhere, and commented upon by authorities in this field; secondly, while the empirical common law approach might not be better than ours, it does serve a practical purpose where it coincides with our law; i.e., it serves as a guide to lawyers and judges, who incidentally, have recently, quite rightly taken to referring to common law texts when confronted with a personal injury case. This work is by far no comprehensive text on the subject, but should serve as an introduction to a field of law which has burst its banks, and therefore requires a bold and modern approach.