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Liability in Respect of the Intoxicated

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2001

Claire McIvor
Claire McIvor*
Affiliation:
University of Durham
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Abstract

This article considers how third parties may be held personally liable for harm inflicted by, and upon, the intoxicated. It charts the development of ‘alcohol liability’ in Canada and Australia and then goes on to demonstrate how this novel category of liability for the acts of others is beginning to work its way into the English law of tort.

Type
Articles
Information
The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , March 2001 , pp. 109 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors 2001

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Footnotes

I am indebted to Professor Harvey Teff for his comments on an earlier draft of this article.

References

1 Stapleton, J., “In Restraint of Tort”, in Birks, P. (ed.), The Frontiers of Liability, vol. 2 (OUP 1994), p. 84Google Scholar.

2 Weir, T., “The Staggering March of Negligence”, in Cane, P. and Stapleton, J. (eds.), The Law of Obligations: Essays in Celebration of John Fleming (Oxford Clarendon 1998), p. 97Google Scholar.

3 (1973) 38 D.L.R. (3d) 105. For a comment on the decision, see: Silberberg, H., “The Intoxicated Patron: A Re-Appraisal of the Duty of Care” (1974) 20 McGill L.J. 491Google Scholar.

4 Ibid., at p. 113.

5 Ibid.

6 Unreported, Ont. C.A., 28 April 1980.

7 (1983) 27 C.C.L.T. 1.

8 Baumeisler v. Drake (1986) 38 C.C.L.T. 1. See also Wince v. Ball (1996) 136 D.L.R. (4th) 104.

9 (1989) 68 O.R. (2d) 321.

10 (1993) 15 C.C.L.T. (2d) 264.

11 (1995) 23 C.C.L.T. (2d) 89. See also Wince v. Ball (1996) 136 D.L.R. (4th) 104.

12 On this point, see dicta of Evans L.J. in Barrett v. Enfield London Borough Council [1997] 2 F.L.R. 167.

13 See further, Solomon, R. and Payne, J., “Alcohol Liability in Canada and Australia: Sell, Serve and be Sued” (1996) 4 Tort L.R. 188Google Scholar.

14 See, e.g., Niblock v. Pacific National Exhibition (1981) 30 B.C.L.R. 20; Buehl v. Polar Star Enterprises Inc. (1989) 72 O.R. (2d) 573; McGinty v. Cook (1991) 79 D.L.R. (4th) 95.

15 Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts Ltd. (1988) 44 C.C.L.T. 225.

16 Dunn v. Dominion Atlantic Railway Co. (1920) 60 S.C.R. 310; The Canadian Pacific Railway Co. v. Blain (1904) 34 S.C.R. 74.

17 Chordas V. Bryant (Wellington) Pty. Ltd. (1988) 92 F.L.R. 401; Wormaid v. Robertson (1992) Australian Torts Reports 81-180; Gorman v. Williams [1985] 2 N.S.W.L.R. 662.

18 Johns v. Cosgrove & Chevron Queensland Ltd. (unreported, Qld. Sup. Ct., 12 Dec 1997); Rosser v. Vintage Nominees Pty. Ltd. Licensee (unreported, District Court of Western Australia, 5 June 1998). References taken from T. Blyth, “Hotelier and Social Host Liability for Alcohol-Related Injuries—A Review of The Law in Australia” (1999) E. Law—Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, vol. 6, no. 3.

19 R. Solomon and J. Payne, op. cit., p. 120.

20 “Tort and the Road to Temperance: A Different Kind of Offensive Against the Drinking Driver” (1988) 51 M.L.R. 735, 743.

21 The Independent, 3 June 1993, C.A. [1995] 1 W.L.R. 1217.

22 Ibid., at p. 1224.

23 (1988) 44 C.C.L.T. 225.

24 [1995] 1 W.L.R. 1217, 1225.

25 C.A., 21 June 2000 (unreported). (Transcript obtained.)

26 At para. 25 of transcript.

27 Ibid.

28 See para. 24 of transcript.

29 Ibid.

30 Ibid.

31 (1998) The Times, October 23. (Transcript obtained.)

32 Such is the interpretation of the decision given by R. Lawson (1998) 142 S.J. 1064.

33 [1964] A.C. 465.

34 Henderson v. Merrell Syndicates Ltd. [1994] 3 All E.R. 506.

35 The current predominant view seems to be that it refers to relationships that are “equivalent to contract”. See Howarth, D., Textbook on Tort (Butterworths 1995), p. 276Google Scholar.

36 See, e.g., dicta of Lord Griffiths in Smith v. Eric Bush [1989] 2 All E.R. 514 at 536 and of Lords Roskill and Oliver in Caparo v. Dickman [1990] 2 A.C. 605 at 628 and 637. See also K. Barker, “Unreliable Assumptions in the Modern Law of Negligence” (1993) 109 L.Q.R. 461.

37 “Negligence Liability of Auditors to Third Parties and the Role of Assumption of Responsibility” (1998) 14 P.N. 195, 198-199.

38 See, e.g., Henderson v. Merrett Syndicates Ltd. [1994] 3 All E.R. 506.

39 An example of this may be found in White v. Jones [1993] 3 All E.R. 481.

40 Weinrib, E.J., “The Case for a Duty to Rescue” (1980) 90 Yale L.J. 247Google Scholar.

41 “Duty of Care: Peripheral Parties and Alternative Opportunities for Deterrence” (1995) 111 L.Q.R. 301.

42 (1999) The Times, February 1. (Transcript obtained.)

43 Significantly, no cross-appeal was made by the defendants against the finding of negligence.