Synopses & Reviews
Since its first publication, Accidents, Compensation and the Law has been recognised as the leading treatment of the law of personal injuries compensation and the social, political and economic issues surrounding it. The seventh edition of this classic work explores recent momentous changes in personal injury law and practice and puts them into broad perspective. Most significantly, it examines developments affecting the financing and conduct of personal injury claiming: the abolition of legal aid for most personal injury claims; the increasing use of conditional fee agreements and after-the-event insurance; the meteoric rise and impending regulation of the claims management industry. Complaints that Britain is a 'compensation culture' suffering an 'insurance crisis' are investigated. New statistics on tort claims are discussed, providing fresh insights into the evolution of the tort system which, despite recent reforms, remains deeply flawed and ripe for radical reform.
Review
'... providing a thought-provoking and accessible account. ... Written by a common law lawyer, Peter Cane, Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law builds on its impressive previous additions. It is extremely well-written and provides an excellent balance between theoretical considerations and practical implications of personal injury law. ... well researched ... well priced and exceptionally researched meaning an academic can save a considerable amount of research time.' Student Law Journal
Synopsis
This book provides the classic account of personal injuries law and compensation systems in the United Kingdom. As well as discussing the basics of personal injuries ('tort') law, it explains how the tort system works, its relationship with the social security system, the criminal injuries compensation scheme and personal and liability insurance. It assesses complaints that Britain has a 'compensation culture' and is suffering from an 'insurance crisis', and that a flood of medical negligence claims threatens to drown the NHS. It also suggests how the tort system could change.
Synopsis
This classic account of personal injuries law and practice in the United Kingdom provides a comprehensive explanation of how the tort system works and looks at the social and political factors affecting it. Addressing complaints that Britain has a 'compensation culture', it suggests how the system should change.
Synopsis
New edition of definitive text on the law of personal injury compensation.
About the Author
Peter Cane has been Professor of Law in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University since 1997. For twenty years previously he taught law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His main research interests are in the law of obligations, especially tort law; public law, especially administrative law; and legal theory. Recent publications include Responsibility in Law and Morality (2002) and The Oxford Handbook of Legal Studies (edited with Mark Tushnet) (2003).Patrick Atiyah is one of the leading common lawyers of his generation. Until his early retirement in 1988 he was Professor of English Law at Oxford University. His published writings range widely over topics in tort law, contract law, legal history and legal theory; and include The Sale of Goods (11th edition with J. N. Harpers and H. L. McQueen, 2005), The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1985) and The Damages Lottery (1997).
Table of Contents
Part I. The Issues in Perspective: 1. Introduction: surveying the field; Part II. The Tort System in Theory: 2. Fault as a basis of liability; 3. The scope of the tort of negligence; 4. Departures from the fault principle; 5. Causation and remoteness of damage; 6. Damages for personal injury and death; 7. An appraisal of the fault principle; Part III. The Tort System in Operation: 8. Claims and claimants; 9. Tortfeasors and insurers; 10. Trials and settlements; Part IV. Other Compensation Systems: 11. First party insurance; 12. Compensation for criminal injuries; 13. The social security system; 14. Other forms of assistance; Part V. The Overall Picture: 15. A plethora of systems; 16. The cost of compensation and who pays it; 17. The functions of the compensation systems; Part VI. The Future: 18. Accident compensation in the 21st century.