English tort law and the pandemic: the dog that has not barked

David Howarth ()
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David Howarth: University of Cambridge

The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, 2023, vol. 48, issue 3, No 3, 577-607

Abstract: Abstract As of February 2023, no case has been reported in the U.K., either in the law reports or in the media, of a victim of COVID-19 suing in tort a person or organisation alleged to have caused the victim to contract the disease. This article considers the reasons this situation might have arisen. It provisionally concludes that the main legal reasons might lie in the applicable doctrines of factual causation and goes on to discuss whether uncertainty in those doctrines should be resolved in the courts.

Keywords: Tort; Liability; Pandemic; COVID-19; Causation; Negligence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1057/s41288-023-00298-6

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