IMMUNITY IN TORT AND THE TRADE DISPUTES ACT—A NEW LIMITATION?
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1955.tb00305.x |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| Author | V. T. H. Delany |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
IMMUNITY IN TORT AND THE TRADE
DISPUTES ACT-A NEiW LIMITATION
?
THE action of Parliament
in
1946
in repealing the Trade Disputes
and Trade Unions Act,
1927,2
had the effect, in part of the United
Kingdom at least,s of restoring the earlier Trade Disputes Act,
1906,4
to all its pristine glory. Throughout its history, the
1906
Act has been subjected to the most searching scrutiny and an
immense amount of judicial time and energy has been expended
on
the task of defining its limits. Not the least of this has been
devoted to the definition clause, section
5
(8),
which purports to
give legislative effect to the expressions
“
trade dispute
”
and
“workmen.”“ Almost every word of this section has been
judicially interpreted and
it
might have been thought that the
action of the courts would have put matters beyond doubt. A
recent decision from across the Irish Sea, however, merits examina-
tion, for
it
appears to impose a novel limitation
on
the operation
of
the Act
as
a whole,
in
so
far as
it
confers immunity for acts done
in
the furtherance of a trade dispute.
IMEmo
OF
A
“
TRADE DISPUTE
”
In Eire, where the
1906
Act was never fettered by the restrictions
imposed
on
it
here between
1927
and
1946,
there have been many
cases dealing with the nature of a trade dispute. In the latest of
these-Smith v. Beirne and Others,” the Supreme Court had to
consider a set of facts which are, in themselves, sufficiently unusual
to be worthy of comment; and the court’s application of the legal
principles involved is of considerable importance. The facts of the
case are comparatively simple. The plaintiff was one of the
trustees of a members’ club
known
as “The City
of
Dublin
Workingmen’s Club,” while the defendants were the secretary and
two members of a trade union which exists
for
the protection of
employees in the licensed trade in Eire. Some time prior to the
1
Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act,
1946.
*
17
&
18
Cleo.
5,
c.
22.
3
In Northern Ireland, the limitations imposed in the other parts
of
the United
Kingdom during the period
1927-1946
still apply
:
Trade Disputes and Trade
Unions Act (N.I.),
1927.
4
6 Edw.
7,,p. 47.
5
8.
5
(3)
:
In
this Act
. . .
the expression
‘
trade dispute
’
means any dispute
between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen, which
is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms
of
employ-
ment,
or
with the conditions
of
labour,
of
any person, and the expression
workmen
’
means all persons employed in trade or industry, whether or
not
in the employment
of
the employer with whom
a
trade dispute‘arises.
.
. .”
338
6
(1955)
89
1r.L.T.R.
24.
To continue reading
Request your trial