BUS-294 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Wrong Turn, Law Commission, Chief Constable
20 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
White v chief constable of south yorkshire (1999) The court of appeal held that police officers who suffered psychiatric illness as a result of their involvement could recover in negligence. The court said the police were primary victims because of their role as rescuers. The decision provoked public outrage and was overturned by the house of lords who stated there was no special category of rescuers. The police officers had to meet the requirements to claim as secondary victims. White v chief constable of south yorkshire: lord steyn identified four policy reasons why psychiatric illness should be treated differently from claims for physical injury. It is difficult to draw a line between acute grief and psychiatric illness. Compensation for psychiatric illness who witnessed accidents may unconsciously disincentive people to rehabilitate / get over the distressing event. If we allow all claims it will lead to a huge number of claims. The amount of damages could become enormous and could cause.
