Within this essay i will highlight the strengths and
weaknesses of the 'but for' test....
Barnett v Kensington &
Chelsea Management
Committee (1969)
Paragraph one (300w)
Strength
cases
McGee v National Coal Board [1973]
Common Sense
Eggshell skulls - 'The tortfeasor
must take his victim as he finds
him' Read more at Law Teacher - pg 271 Horsey
Weakness
Cases
Mc Williams v Sir William Arrol (1962)
Involves an element of guess work
Conclusion
Journal
Statute
Paragraph two (300w)
Strength
cases
- Fairchild v Glenhaven [2002] - Wilsher v Essex AHA [1988]
- Bolitho v City & Hackney Health Authority [1997] - Nyang
v G4S Care & Justice Services Ltd & Ors [2013]
HOWEVER: Bonnington Castings Ltd v Wardlaw - "He
did not have to demonstrate on the balance of
probabilities that the guilty dust was the sole cause of
the disease." Material Contribution to harm
Conclusion
Weakness
Cases
Hotson v East Berkshire
Area Health Authority
[1987] Gregg v Scott (2005) -
see baroness Hale’s
explanation - pg 263 Horsey
Indeterminate causes (more than one
cause) / loss of chance
HENCE WHY (LINK BACK): Barnett v Kensington & Chelsea Management
Committee [1969] - The hospital was not liable as the doctor's failure to
examine the patient did not cause his death. Introduced the 'but for' test ie
would the result have occurred but for the act or omission of the
defendant? If yes, the defendant is not liable. Cook v Lewis
Lord Reid “A man us not compensated for
the physical injury he is compensated for
the loss which he suffers as a result of that
injury.” Read more at Law Teacher:
Sindell v Abbot Laboratories [1980] - pg 260 Horsey
Journal
Statute
Paragraph three (300w)
Strength
Cases
Conclusion
Weakness
Cases
Bolitho Wright v Cambridge Medical
Group (2011) - pg 265 Horsey
Omissions
Journal
Statute
Conclusion (250w)
In my submission/ I submit that.... with support from legal authority
Tie up arguments
what affect does it have on
the law, on future cases
Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health
Board [2015] - Pg 259 Horsey