Abstract:
The article advances two propositions. The first is that the current law on the negligence liability of the police for failure to prevent a crime is unsatisfactory. The general rule of non-liability is based on two lines of argument, neither of which is persuasive. The Hill policy grounds used by the courts do not stand up to close scrutiny, whist the application of the pure omission rule to the police is also problematic. At the same time, the current law does not attach adequate significance to arguments in favour of liability. The second proposition is that the existing framework of negligence liability of public authorities can be re-adjusted to generate outcomes that better balance the valid considerations for and against liability in cases of police failure to prevent crime.
Tofaris, Stelios and Steel, Sandy, Police Liability in Negligence for Failure to Prevent Crime: Time to Rethink (July 21, 2014).
First posted 2014-07-23 06:33:25
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