McKernan v McGeown and Department of Environment
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1983 |
| Date | 01 January 1983 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
Duty to maintain highway - Personal Injuries - Motor accidents -Extent of statutory duty to maintain road - Roads (Liability of Road Authorities for Neglect) Act, (Northern Ireland) 1966, (c. 11), s. 1 - Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (S.I. no. 1085 N.I. 11), Art. 8. Negligence - Statutory powers - Whether public authority liable for alleged negligent exercise of discretionary powers.
The plaintiff in these actions sustained personal injuries in road accidents in December 1976 and January 1981 respectively. Each plaintiff sued the Department of the Environment for breach of statutory duty under the Act of 1966 and the Order of 1980 for failure to maintain a public highway. The plaintiff in the second action contended that the Department was negligent in its exercise of a discretionary power to grit, sand and de-ice a public highway. The question whether the plaintiffs' claims disclosed a cause of action against the Department was tried as a preliminary issue. By consent of the parties both applications were heard together. Held, dismissing the actions that (i) the only duty of the Department as highway authority under the 1966 Act was to repair the structure and surface of the road and the 1966 Act did not impose liability on the Department for failure to apply sand, salt or grit to an otherwise good though icy road or to remove any extraneous object which might be on the surface of the road. The nature and extent of the duty of the Highway Authority under the 1980 Order is no different from that under the 1966 Act, Lagan v. Department of the EnvironmentDNI[1978] N.I. 120 considered, (ii) where a discretionary power was conferred on a public authority by a...
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Madden v Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland
...in particular to a number of matters similar to the matters referred to in section 1(3) of the 1966 Act. In McKernan v McGeown and DOE [1983] NI 167 at p. 172 Gibson LJ stated that the nature and extent of the liability under the 1966 Act and the 1980 Order were the same. [5] The Roads (Nor......
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Neill v Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland
...and that the road was in such a condition as to be dangerous for traffic. Laganv. DOEDNI [1978] N.I. 120 and McKernan v. McGeownDNI [1983] N.I. 167 applied. 2. The Department was not in breach of article 3 (1) of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order, 1973. It could not b......