A v Hoare

A v Hoare, [2008] UKHL 6,[1] is a leading tort case decided by the House of Lords. Their Lordships held that the limitation period for actions founded on torts of negligence may be disapplied where it is inequitable to enforce it. This case centred on the wording of the Limitation Act 1980,[2] which created an exception to the three year limitation period for 'any action for damages for negligence, nuisance or breach of duty.' In the earlier case, Stubbings v Webb [1993] AC 498, S v W [1995] FLR 862, the words 'negligence, nuisance or breach of duty' were construed in such a way as to exclude sexual assault. Stubbings v Webb was criticised as being unfair to claimants, notably by the Law Commission.[3] A v Hoare overruled the judgment of the House of Lords in Stubbings v Webb in favour of what the judges considered to be a fairer approach.

Facts

"In A v Hoare the defendant was convicted in 1989 of an attempted rape of the claimant, involving a serious and traumatic sexual assault; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2004, while still serving his sentence, he won £7m on the national lottery. The claimant started proceedings for damages on 22 December 2004 but Master Eyre, applying Stubbings, struck out the action as barred under section 2 of the 1980 Act. This decision was affirmed by the judge and the Court of Appeal [2006] 1 WLR 2320."[4]

Decision

The House of Lords held that the words 'negligence, nuisance or breach of duty' could be construed to include sexual assault and thus bring them within the s33 discretion to disapply the limitation period for claims. Lord Hoffmann reasoned that s33 had caused victims of intentional torts 'the need to frame a claim in one or other of these ways when the real cause of complaint was sexual abuse for which the employer was vicariously liable was causing "arid and highly wasteful litigation turning on a distinction of no apparent principle or other merit".[5]'[6] This decision was followed in Field v British Coal Corp, [2008] EWCA Civ 912 by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

References

  1. ↑ A v Hoare
  2. ↑ Limitation Act 1980
  3. ↑ Law Commission Consultation Paper 151 Archived April 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ per Lord Hoffmann at para 26
  5. ↑ KR v Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings) Ltd [2003] QB 1441 per LJ Auld at para 100
  6. ↑ per Lord Hoffmann at para 25
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