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Various Claimants V Institute Of The Christian Schools Case Study

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Case note Sexual abuse and the changing nature of vicarious liability Case: Various Claimants v Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools [2012] UKSC 5: [2012] 3 W.L.R. 1319 (SC) According to Steele, vicarious liability is defined as an employer being found liable for the tort of his or her employee, provided that tort is sufficiently connected with the individual’s employment. On the face of it, this definition seems straightforward and clear, however you only need to look at the plethora of cases which have come to light in recent years to see that the reality is very different. The case of Various Claimants v Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, (CCWS) is the latest case which has served to further develop the …show more content…

Winfield and Jolowicz recognise the existence of relationships which resemble, but are not technically employer/employee relationships; an example being that of the vicarious liability of the chief constable of police for the torts committed by his police force. This means therefore that the doctrine is capable of extending to other relationships. Although Lord Phillips came to the correct conclusion, he did not provide a coherent structure for courts to follow when making future decisions., his analysis is useful for cases with very similar features to this one, but will be of limited use to cases where the circumstances are different, this will of course be most cases and therefore he should have provided more guidance, this is particularly evident when looking at the features which he thought made their relationship closer than that of an employer and employees. There is no discernible logic which links the two factors together, and it is unlikely that a court will be able to infer from those two features a common rule which can be applied to other situations. Additionally, he stated that it was possible for an unincorporated association to be vicariously liable for tortious acts of one or

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