Chain of Causation in UK Law
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McLoughlin v O'Brian
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Yet an anxiety neurosis or a reactive depression may be recognisable psychiatric illnesses, with or without psychosomatic symptoms. So, the first hurdle which a plaintiff claiming damages of the kind in question must surmount is to establish that he is suffering, not merely grief, distress or any other normal emotion, but a positive psychiatric illness.
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Borealis AB v Geogas Trading SA
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For there to be a break in the chain of causation, the true cause of the loss must be the conduct of the claimant rather than the breach of contract on the part of the defendant; if the breach of contract by the defendant and the claimant's subsequent conduct are concurrent causes, it must be unlikely that the chain of causation will be broken.
It is, however, also plain that mere unreasonable conduct on a claimant's part will not necessarily do so – for example where the defendant's breach remains an effective cause of the loss, albeit in combination with the claimant's failure to take reasonable precautions in its own interest: see, for example, County Ltd v Girozentrale, per Beldam LJ (loc cit).
Fourthly, the claimant's state of knowledge at the time of and following the defendant's breach of contract is likely to be a factor of very great significance. For the chain of causation to be broken, the claimant need not have knowledge of the legal niceties of the breach of contract; nor, as it seems to me, will the chain of causation only be broken if the claimant has actual knowledge that a breach of contract has occurred – otherwise there would be a premium on ignorance.
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McKew v Holland & Hannen & Cubitts (Scotland) Ltd
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It is quite possible that in spite of all reasonable care his leg may give way in circumstances such that as a result he sustains further injury. But if the injured man acts unreasonably he cannot hold the defender liable for injury caused by his own unreasonable conduct. The chain of causation has been broken and what follows must be regarded as caused by his own conduct and not by the defender's fault or the disability caused by it.
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Hughes v Lord Advocate
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An explosion is only one way in which burning can be caused. Burning can also be caused by the contact between liquid paraffin and a naked flame. In the one case paraffin vapour and in the other case liquid paraffin is ignited by fire. I cannot see that these are two different types of accident. They are both burning accidents and in both cases the injuries would be burning injuries.
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Dorset Yacht Company Ltd v Home Office
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These cases shew that, where human action forms one of the links between the original wrongdoing of the defendant and the loss suffered by the plaintiff, that action must at least have been something very likely to happen if it is not to be regarded as novus actus interveniens breaking the chain of causation.
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The Trade Remedies (Dumping and Subsidisation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
... ... 26 in force at 6.3.2019, see reg. 1(2) ... PART 4: Injury and causation ... Determination of injury and causation in accordance with this Part ... —(a) the nature of the relationship between persons in the export chain;(b) the timing of the change in the pattern of trade; and(c) the nature of ... ...
- Medical Treatment and the Chain of Causation
- Breaking the Chain of Causation: Reasonable Foreseeability and the ‘Exact Form’ of a Subsequent Act: R v A [2020] EWCA Crim 407; [2020] 1 WLR 2320
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Kennedy and Unlawful Act Manslaughter: An Unorthodox Application of the Doctrine of Causation
The decision of the House of Lords in R v Kennedy (No. 2)1 was welcomed by many academics as a return to the traditional application of causation. The victim in Kennedy was found to have broken the...... ... 2)1waswelcomed by many academics as a return to the traditional application ofcausation. The victim in Kennedy was found to have broken the chain ofcausation between himself and his drug supplier when he self-injectedwith an already prepared syringe and produced his own death. However,on a ... ...
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The migration–terrorism nexus: An analysis of German and Italian press coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’
Over the last few years, terrorist attacks in European cities, together with the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, have (re)ignited a debate on whether there is an association between the two issues. Dra...... ... of four main terror attacks in Europe shows the predominance of a chain of causation linking terrorism to new migrants and refugees. Given the ... ...
- Chain of Causation: New Intervening Acts Revisited
- Shameless Aggression Breaks Chain Of Causation
- Commercial Court Reviews Law On Breaking The Chain Of Causation, Mitigation And Remoteness Of Damage
- FOS Departs From Established Law To Hold That Losses Caused By The Financial Crisis Do Not Break The Chain Of Causation