The Impact of the UK Human Rights Act on Private Law

443 Pages·2011·2.018 MB·English

by  David Hoffman

THE IMPACT OF
THE UK HUMAN RIGHTS ACT
ON PRIVATE LAW
TheHumanRightsAct1998hashadaprofoundeffectinnumerousprivate
lawdecisionsandhasbeenthesubjectofextensiveacademicdebate,in
particular,ontheissueoftheextenttowhichithashorizontaleffectand
itsapplicationindisputesbetweenindividuals.
Withcontributionsfromavarietyofacademicsandpractitioners,this
volumecoversandcontributestotheacademicdebateonhorizontaleffect
andconsidershowtheorymatchesupwithcaselaw;thelimitsoftheAct
for private law; and its impact on key areas including privacy, defama-
tion, negligence, nuisance, property, commercial law and employment.
Together, the book provides a practical critique of the areas discussed,
whichwillbeofacademicinteresttotheoristsandofpracticalbenefitto
lawyersandjudgeswhowishtounderstandhowtheacademicdebatescan
bebroughttobearinparticularcases.
david hoffman is a practising barristerinthe fields of chanceryand
commerciallaw.Heisaco-authorofthestudenttextbookHumanRights
intheUKandwasformerlyalawlectureratSomervilleCollege,Oxford.

THE IMPACT OF THE
UK HUMAN RIGHTS ACT
ON PRIVATE LAW
Editedby
DAVID HOFFMAN
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Firstpublished2011
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
TheimpactoftheUKHumanRightsActonprivatelaw/editedbyDavidHoffman.
p. cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN978-1-107-00932-5(hardback)
1.Humanrights–England. 2.Civillaw–England. 3.GreatBritain.
HumanRightsAct1998. I.Hoffman,David,1971– II.Title:Impactofthe
UnitedKingdomHumanRightsActonprivatelaw.
KD4080.I485 2011
342.4208(cid:3)5–dc23 2011026516
ISBN978-1-107-00932-5Hardback
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CONTENTS
Listofcontributors pagevii
ForewordbytheRtHon.LordNeubergerofAbbotsbury,
MasteroftheRolls xi
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xvi
Tableofcases xvii
Tableofstatutes xxxv
Tableofstatutoryinstruments xxxix
TableofEuropeanUnionLegislation xl
Listofabbreviations xli
1 Introduction 1
davidhoffman,gavinphillipsonandalisonl.young
2 Mappinghorizontaleffect 16
alisonl.young
3 Publicauthorities 48
alexanderwilliams
4 Statutelaw 66
janvanzylsmit
5 Precedent 91
alisonl.young
6 Tortdesignandhumanrightsthinking 110
roderickbagshaw
v
vi contents
7 Privacy 136
gavinphillipson
8 Nuisance 165
donalnolan
9 Defamation 195
kenoliphant
10 Discriminationlaw 206
hazeloliver
11 Damages 223
jasonn.e.varuhas
12 Propertyandhousing 249
amygoymour
13 Commerciallaw 300
francisrose
14 Restitution 321
davidhoffman
15 Insolvency 334
christophermcnall
16 Employmentlaw 344
hazeloliver
17 Civilprocedure 360
johnsorabji
18 Conclusions 379
davidhoffman
Index 382
CONTRIBUTORS
roderick bagshaw is Tutor and Fellow in Law at Magdalen College,
UniversityofOxford,andhasbeenteachingtortandadministrativelaw
in Oxford for the last sixteen years. He is the co-author (with Nicholas
McBride)ofatextbookontortlaw,LongmanLawSeries(3rdedn.,2008).
amygoymouristheHopkins-ParryFellowinLawatDowningCollege,
University of Cambridge, where she teaches land law, Roman law and
restitution. Her research interests lie in the fields of real and personal
property,restitutionandtheintersectionofprivatelawwithhumanrights.
Publicationsinclude‘ProprietaryClaimsandHumanRights:A“Reservoir
ofEntitlement”’[2006]CLJ696and‘ConversionofContractualRights’
[2011]LMCLQ67.
davidhoffmanisachancery/commercialbarristerat18StJohnStreet
Chambers,Manchester,formerlectureratSomervilleCollegeOxfordand
co-authorwithJohnRoweQCofapopulartextbookontheHumanRights
Act1998,HumanRightsintheUK(3rdedn.,2009),aswellasauthorof
severalCurrentLawstatuteannotationsonterrorismlaw.
christophermcnallisachancerybarristerandmediatorat18StJohn
StreetChambers,Manchester,beforewhichhetaughtlawattheuniver-
sities of Warsaw, Oxford and Cardiff. He is a member of the Attorney-
General’s Provincial Panel of Counsel and a contributor to the Oxford
EncyclopaediaofLegalHistory.
donal nolan is the Porjes Foundation Fellow and Tutor in Law at
WorcesterCollege,OxfordandaCUFLecturerinLawintheUniversity
of Oxford. Subjects he has taught include tort, contract, international
trade law, restitution and commercial law. His research interests lie in
tortandcontractlaw,andhehaspublishedonarangeofsubjectswithin
thosefields,includingnuisanceandRylandsv.Fletcher,productliability,
vii
viii contributors
liabilityforpsychiatricinjury,theliabilityofpublicauthoritiesandequi-
tableestoppel.Hisrecentpublicationsinclude ‘OfferandAcceptancein
the Electronic Age’ in Andrew Burrows and Edwin Peel (eds.), Contract
FormationandParties(2010)and(withStephenBailey)ThePagev.Smith
Saga:ATaleofInauspiciousOriginsandUnintendedConsequences(2010).
kenoliphantisDirectoroftheInstituteforEuropeanTortLaw,Austrian
AcademyofSciencesandProfessorofTortLaw,UniversityofBristol.He
previouslyheldfacultypositionsatKing’sCollegeLondon(1988–99)and
Cardiff University (1999–2006). He has written extensively in the fields
ofEnglishandEuropeantortlaw.Publicationsinclude:TortLaw:Text&
Materials(4thedn.,2010)(withMarkLunney);TortLaw,CommonLaw
Series (2nd edn., 2007) (general editor); Aggregation and Divisibility of
Damage(2009);TortandInsuranceLaw,Vol.26(editor).Hehasrecently
finishedtherevisionandupdatingofthetitleon‘Tort’forHalsbury’sLaws
ofEngland(5thedn.,2010).HeisfoundingGeneralEditoroftheJournal
of European Tort Law, UK correspondent of the Torts Law Journal and
a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Professional
Negligence, theJournal of Law and Society and the Victoria University
of Wellington Law Review. He is a member of the European Group on
Tort Law, and in 2009 was elected to membership of the American Law
Institute,becomingitsonlymemberinAustria.
hazel oliver isapracticedevelopmentlawyeratLewisSilkinLLPspe-
cialisinginemploymentanddiscriminationlaw,andapart-timeEmploy-
mentTribunaljudge.ShehaslecturedindiscriminationlawattheLondon
SchoolofEconomics,andholdsanMAandBCLfromtheUniversityof
Oxford, as well as a Masters on electronic surveillance in the workplace
fromtheUniversityofToronto.Shehaspublishedonarangeofsubjects
inemploymentlaw,includingonbothsexualorientationdiscrimination
and privacy rights in the Industrial Law Journal, and surveillance and
privacyatworkfortheInstituteofEmploymentRights.
gavinphillipsonisaProfessoratDurhamUniversityLawSchool,and
formerly a Senior Lecturer at King’s College, London. He is author of
several recent leading articles on civil liberties and the Human Rights
Act,co-author(withProfessorHelenFenwick)ofMediaFreedomunder
the Human Rights Act (2006), and co-editor (with Professor Fenwick
andRogerMasterman)ofJudicialReasoningUndertheHumanRightsAct
(CambridgeUniversityPress,2007).Hismostimportantcontributionhas
contributors ix
beenintheareaofhorizontaleffectandthedevelopmentofacommon
lawrighttoprivacy,onwhichhehaspublishedseveralinfluentialarticles
intheModernLawReview,aswellaschaptersintheabovebooks.These
havebeencitedwithapprovalbytheHouseofLordsinCampbellv.MGN
Ltd (2004) and by the Court of Appeal in McKennitt v. Ash (2006) and
inDouglasv.Hello!Ltd(No.3)(2005).HehastaughtMasterscourseson
comparativeprivacylawattheuniversitiesofMelbourne,King’sCollege
LondonandCityUniversity.
francis rose is a Professor of Commercial Law at the University of
Bristol, as well as a barrister and associate of chambers at Quadrant
Chambers, former Professor of Commercial and Common Law at the
UniversityofBuckingham,and,beforethat,aFellowofStJohn’sCollege,
Cambridge.HewastheDirectoroftheNortonRoseCentreofCommercial
LawwithintheBristolLawFacultyfrom2000to2005.FrancisisGeneral
Editor of Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly. He is also
General Editor of the Restitution Law Review and was Editor-in-Chief
oftheCompany,FinancialandInsolvencyLawReviewandhaspublished
widely in the areas of commercial law (particularly maritime law and
international trade law), restitution and contract. He is the author of a
number of major works in the area of maritime law: Marine Insurance:
Law and Practice (2004); General Average: Law and Practice (2nd edn.,
2005); and Kennedy and Rose: The Law of Salvage (7th edn., 2009). His
work,MarineInsurance:LawandPractice,wasawardedthe2005British
InsuranceLawAssociationBookPrize.
john sorabji is a barrister and is currently the Legal Secretary to the
MasteroftheRollsandHeadofCivilJustice.HeisanAssistantEditorof
theCivilJusticeQuarterly,forwhichheisaregularcontributorofeditorial
notes and articles. He has also published in the European Business Law
Review.In2008hewasthesenioreditorandseniorcontributingauthor
of the Civil Justice Council’s advice to government, Improving Access to
JusticethroughCollectiveActions:DevelopingaMoreEfficientandEffective
Procedure for Collective Actions. He has lectured at the universities of
Oxford,CambridgeandUniversityCollegeLondononciviljustice,aswell
as contributing to conferences both in the United Kingdom and abroad
oncollectiveactionreform.HehasadoctoratefromOxfordUniversity.
jan van zyl smit is a Lecturer in Law at Oxford Brookes University,
where he teaches constitutional and administrative law. He completed