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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> Smith v Sussex Police [2008] EWCA Civ 39 (05 February 2008) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/39.html Cite as: [2008] EWCA Civ 39 |
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COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE BRIGHTON COUNTY COURT
HIS HONOUR JUDGE SIMPKISS
CLAIM NO.6BN00939
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE SEDLEY
and
LORD JUSTICE RIMER
____________________
SMITH |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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CHIEF CONSTABLE OF SUSSEX POLICE |
Respondent |
____________________
WordWave International Limited
A Merrill Communications Company
190 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AG
Tel No: 020 7404 1400, Fax No: 020 7831 8838
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Mr E Faulks QC and Mr E Bishop (instructed by Messrs Weightmans) for the Respondent
Hearing date: Wednesday 21 November 2007
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Sedley :
Background
Decided cases
"Potential existence of such liability may in many instances be in the general public interest, as tending towards the observance of a higher standard of care in the carrying on of various different types of activity. I do not, however, consider that this can be said of police activities. The general sense of public duty which motivates police forces is unlikely to be appreciably reinforced by the imposition of such liability so far as concerns their function in the investigation and suppression of crime. From time to time they make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be doubted that they apply their best endeavours to the performance of it. In some instances the imposition of liability may lead to the exercise of a function being carried on in a detrimentally defensive frame of mind. The possibility of this happening in relation to the investigative operations of the police cannot be excluded. Further it would be reasonable to expect that if potential liability were to be imposed it would be not uncommon for actions to be raised against police forces on the ground that they had failed to catch some criminal as soon as they might have done, with the result that he went on to commit further crimes. While some such actions might involve allegations of a simple and straightforward type of failure – for example that a police officer negligently tripped and fell while pursuing a burglar – others would be likely to enter deeply into the general nature of a police investigation, as indeed the present action would seek to do. The manner of conduct of such an investigation must necessarily involve a variety of decisions to be made on matters of policy and discretion, for example as to which particular line of inquiry is most advantageously to be pursued and what is the most advantageous way to deploy the available resources. Many such decisions would not be regarded by the courts as appropriate to be called in question, yet elaborate investigation of the facts might be necessary to ascertain whether or not this was so. A great deal of police time, trouble and expense might be expected to have to be put into the preparation of the defence to the action and the attendance of witnesses at the trial. The result would be a significant diversion of police manpower and attention from their most important function, that of the suppression of crime. Closed investigations would require to be reopened and retraversed, not with the object of bringing any criminal to justice but to ascertain whether or not they had been competently conducted
This reasoning, as Mr Faulks suggests, can be regarded as a version of the "fair, just and reasonable" test later adopted in Caparo Industries v Dickman[3].
"The communication with the police in this case was by a 999 telephone call, followed by a recorded message. If as a result of that communication the police came under a duty of care to the plaintiff, it must follow that they would be under a similar duty to any person who informs them, whether by 999 call or in some other way, that a burglary, or indeed any crime, against himself or his property is being committed or is about to be committed. So in my view if there is a duty of care it is owed to a wider group than those to whom the judge referred. It is owed to all members of the public who give information of a suspected crime against themselves or their property. It follows, therefore, that on the facts of this case it is my opinion that there was no such special relationship between the plaintiff and the police as was present in the Dorset Yacht case."
"In my judgment," McCowan LJ said, "the House of Lords decision on public policy in Hill's case dooms this action to failure …"
"28. With hindsight not every observation in Hill can now be supported. Lord Keith of Kinkel observed that "From time to time [the police] make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be doubted that they apply their best endeavours to the performance of it": 63D. Nowadays, a more sceptical approach to the carrying out of all public functions is necessary.
29. Counsel for the Commissioner concedes that cases of assumption of responsibility under the extended Hedley Byrne doctrine fall outside the Hill principle. In such cases there is no need to embark on an enquiry whether it is "fair, just and reasonable" to impose liability for economic loss: Williams v Natural Life Health Foods Limited [1998] 1 WLR 830.
30. But the core principle of Hill has remained unchallenged in our domestic jurisprudence and in European jurisprudence for many years. If a case such as the Yorkshire Ripper case, which was before the House in Hill, arose for decision today I have no doubt that it would be decided in the same way. It is, of course, desirable that police officers should treat victims and witnesses properly and with respect: compare the Police Conduct Regulations 2004 (No. 645). But to convert that ethical value into general legal duties of care on the police towards victims and witnesses would be going too far. The prime function of the police is the preservation of the Queen's peace. The police must concentrate on preventing the commission of crime; protecting life and property; and apprehending criminals and preserving evidence: see section 29 of the Police Act 1996, read with Schedule 4 as substituted by section 83 of the Police Reform Act 2002; section 17 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967; Halsbury's Laws of England, Vol 36 (1), para 524; The Laws of Scotland, Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia, 1995, para 1784; Moylan, Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police, 1929, 34. A retreat from the principle in Hill would have detrimental effects for law enforcement. Whilst focusing on investigating crime, and the arrest of suspects, police officers would in practice be required to ensure that in every contact with a potential witness or a potential victim time and resources were deployed to avoid the risk of causing harm or offence. Such legal duties would tend to inhibit a robust approach in assessing a person as a possible suspect, witness or victim. By placing general duties of care on the police to victims and witnesses the police's ability to perform their public functions in the interests of the community, fearlessly and with despatch, would be impeded. It would, as was recognised in Hill, be bound to lead to an unduly defensive approach in combating crime.
31. It is true, of course, that the application of the Hill principle will sometimes leave citizens, who are entitled to feel aggrieved by negligent conduct of the police, without a private law remedy for psychiatric harm. But domestic legal policy, and theHuman Rights Act
1998, sometimes compel this result."
The common law and the Convention
"35. In these circumstances, we conclude that the relevant test in a case of this kind is the Osman test, which may be stated thus. In order to establish a breach of article 2, on the assumed facts the appellant must show that at the material time the Trust knew or ought to have known of the existence of a real and immediate risk to the life of Mrs Savage from self-harm and that it failed to take measures within the scope of their powers which, judged reasonably, might have been expected to avoid that risk. While we would not prohibit the appellant from arguing at the trial for a lower test, we see no warrant for such a lower test, especially in the light of the decision in Re Officer L."
"In the opinion of the court, where there is an allegation that the authorities have violated their positive obligation to protect the right to life in the context of their above-mentioned duty to prevent and suppress offences against the person, it must be established to its satisfaction that the authorities knew or ought to have known at the time of the existence of a real and immediate risk to the life of an identified individual or individuals from the criminal acts of a third party and that they failed to take measures within the scope of their powers which, judged reasonably, might have been expected to avoid that risk."
Lord Carswell added:
20. Two matters have become clear in the subsequent development of the case-law. First, this positive obligation arises only when the risk is "real and immediate". The wording of this test has been the subject of some critical discussion, but its meaning has been aptly summarised in Northern Ireland by Weatherup J in Re W's Application [2004] NIQB 67, where he said that:
"… a real risk is one that is objectively verified and an immediate risk is one that is present and continuing."
It is in my opinion clear that the criterion is and should be one that is not readily satisfied: in other words, the threshold is high. ….
21. Secondly, there is a reflection of the principle of proportionality, striking a fair balance between the general rights of the community and the personal rights of the individual, to be found in the degree of stringency imposed upon the state authorities in the level of precautions which they have to take to avoid being in breach of article 2. As the ECtHR stated in paragraph 116 of Osman, the applicant has to show that the authorities failed to do all that was reasonably to be expected of them to avoid the risk to life. The standard accordingly is based on reasonableness, which brings in consideration of the circumstances of the case, the ease or difficulty of taking precautions and the resources available. In this way the state is not expected to undertake an unduly burdensome obligation: it is not obliged to satisfy an absolute standard requiring the risk to be averted, regardless of all other considerations: ….
The English common law is familiar with the notion of underlying values - principles only in the broadest sense - which direct its development. A famous example is Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers Ltd [1993] AC 534, in which freedom of speech was the underlying value which supported the decision to lay down the specific rule that a local authority could not sue for libel. But no one has suggested that freedom of speech is in itself a legal principle which is capable of sufficient definition to enable one to deduce specific rules to be applied in concrete cases. That is not the way the common law works.
We were not invited by either party to consider the impact of the European Court of Human Rights' subsequent decision in Wainwright v United Kingdom[15] or subsequent domestic decisions on privacy. The other dictum is that of this court, per Lord Woolf CJ, in A v B and C [2002] 2 All ER 545, §4:
"[Arts. 8 and 10] have provided new parameters within which the courts will decide, in an action for breach of confidence, whether a person is entitled to have his privacy protected by the court or whether the restriction of freedom of expression which such protection involves cannot be justified. The court's approach to the issues which the applications raise has been modified because under s6 of the 1998 Act, the court, as a public authority, is required not to act 'in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right'. The court is able to achieve this by absorbing the rights which arts 8 and 10 protect into the long-established action for breach of confidence. This involves giving a new strength and breadth to the action so that it accommodates the requirements of those articles."
Discussion and conclusions
Lord Justice Rimer:
" … in reaching this conclusion I am not to be taken as endorsing the full width of all the observations in [Hill]. There may be exceptional cases where the circumstances compel the conclusion that the absence of a remedy sounding in damages would be an affront to the principles which underlie the common law. Then the decision in Hill's case should not stand in the way of granting an appropriate remedy."
"With hindsight not every observation in Hill's case [1989] AC 53 can now be supported. Lord Keith of Kinkel observed, at p 63 that
'From time to time [the police] make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be doubted that they apply their best endeavours to the performance of it'.
Nowadays, a more sceptical approach to the carrying out of all public functions is necessary."
Lord Justice Pill:
"The court is able to achieve this by absorbing the rights which Articles 8 and 10 protect into the long-established action for breach of confidence. This involves giving a new strength and breadth to the action so that it accommodates the requirements of those articles".
"But the question does arise whether the law of tort should evolve, analogically and incrementally, so as to fashion appropriate remedies to contemporary problems or whether it should remain essentially static, making only such changes as are forced upon it, leaving difficult, and, in human terms, very important problems be swept up by the Convention. I prefer evolution".
In my view, there is a strong case for developing the common law action for negligence in the light of Convention rights. I accept that there have been cases where, on a consideration of Convention rights, that approach has not been followed, for example, Wainwright v Home Office [2004] 2 AC 406 per Lord Hoffmann, at paragraphs 33 and 34. The submission that Article 8 of the Convention created a general law of invasion of privacy was rejected. Lord Hoffmann stated at paragraph 31:
"There seems to me a great difference between identifying privacy as a value which underlies the existence of a rule of law (and may point the direction in which the law should develop) and privacy as a principle of law in itself. . . . . But no one has suggested that freedom of speech is in itself a legal principle which is capable of sufficient definition to enable one to deduce specific rules to be applied in concrete cases. That is not the way the common law works."
"The Convention rights form part of our law and provide a rough equivalent of a written code of constitutional rights, albeit not one tailor-made for this country. In general, at least, where the matter is not already covered by the common law but falls within the scope of a Convention right, a claimant can be expected to invoke his remedy under theHuman Rights Act rather than to seek to fashion a new common law right".
Unlike those cases, however, the present case does not require fashioning a new common law right. It involves considering the impact of Article 2 of the Convention on a very familiar common law exercise: whether on the facts a duty of care exists and whether there is a breach of it. Whether it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care can readily accommodate the existence of a right to life.
"The standard accordingly is based on reasonableness, which brings in consideration of the circumstances of the case, the ease or difficulty of taking precautions and the resources available".
Note 1 R v Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ex p. Blackburn [1968] 2 QB 118 [Back] Note 2 Hill [1989] 1 AC 53 [Back] Note 6 [2005] UKHL 24; [2005] 1 WLR 1495 [Back] Note 7 [1993] 4 All ER 328 [Back] Note 8 [1993] 4 All ER 344 [Back] Note 9 (2000) 29 EHRR 245; [1999] 1 FLR 193 [Back] Note 11 (2002) 34 EHRR 97; [2001] 2 FLR 612 [Back] Note 12 [2005] UKHL 24, §29, per Lord Steyn. [Back] Note 13 [2007] EWCA Civ 325; [2007] 1 WLR 1821 [Back]