Principles of Tort Law

Within the last decade, the Supreme Court has made two telling observations. First, vicarious liability is ‘on the move’ (per Catholic Child Welfare Socy v Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Child Welfare Socy)1); and second, ‘[t]he risk of an employee misusing his position is one of life’s unavoidable facts’ (per Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc2). To that, add the Court of Appeal’s recent observations that employers do not ‘[become] insurers for violent or other tortious acts by their employees’ (per Bellman Northampton Recruitment Ltd3); but that ‘there will indeed be cases of independent contractors where vicarious liability will be established’ (per Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants4).