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Vicarious liability is the treatment, regardless of fault, of one defender as liable for another defender's wrong. The basic inquiry involves examination of whether (i) the defenders stand in a relationship capable of giving rise to vicarious liability; and (ii) the wrongdoing is relevantly linked to that relationship. Unsatisfactory though the reality and its results may be, the contours of these core components are sculpted as new fact patterns come before the courts, and judges emphasise differently and compromise between various policy goals. The elementary principles are quite well-settled, especially given a relative paucity of case law and literature. But room for refinement remains. We here further analyse issues of interest in Scotland and beyond concerning the basic inquiry, and clarify the unimportance in this context of the distinctiveness of Scots law, before summarising our conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first work to explore the possibility of holding sports governing bodies and competition organisers vicariously liable for the tortious behaviour of athletes that compete under their auspices. In contrast to other scholarly contributions on vicarious liability in sport, this paper examines the scope of responsibility for athletes in individual sports (as opposed to team sports). It begins by drawing upon the recent tribunal proceedings between professional cyclist Jess Varnish and British Cycling to analyse the employment status of government-funded individual athletes. In calling for a contextual and policy-sensitive approach to the definition of an 'employee', this paper argues that certain normative and theoretical considerations ought to be granted more or less weight depending on the particular legal issue animating the dispute. Thereafter, and with one eye on the overly intrusive regulatory provisions found in sports such as tennis and golf, this paper also demonstrates that the vicarious liability of governing bodies and competition organisers could equally be extended to cover the tortious conduct of non-funded individual athletes. In making these claims, it is demonstrated how a sport-specific application of the doctrine may help to teach us a few broader lessons about vicarious liability more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common law on vicarious liability is unsatisfactory because the doctrine is couched at such a high level of generality that it cannot yield predictable results when applied to a given fact situation. This paper is an attempt to inject some precision into the doctrine. It examines and rejects three justifications for the doctrine: effective compensation/risk spreading, deterrence and certain theories related to quid pro quo. It then proposes the most suitable justification for the doctrine: vicarious liability is imposed because and when the defendant, by placing the tortfeasor in the position in its organisation that it did with that position's accompanying privileges and demands, had created or significantly enhanced the risk of the claimant's injury. Three implications follow from this justification: (1) there is no vicarious liability for the wrongful acts of independent contractors; (2) agency reasoning should be rejected; and (3) we should stop using the phrase 'enterprise-risk approach'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In 1599, Dutch privateer Melchior van den Kerckhoven unlawfully captured the Venetian merchantman Ponte , which resulted in extensive legal proceedings before the Supreme Court of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland. The Ponte case soon became the centrepiece for discussions about vicarious liability of shipowners for unlawful acts of their shipmasters, and – more importantly – about limitation of this liability to (the value of) their ship and cargo. Within these discussions, a secondary role was reserved for the case arising from the capture of the French ship Levrette by a Dutch merchantman in 1610. Based on extensive archival research, the present article offers a detailed reconstruction of the facts and proceedings of the Ponte and the Levrette case, and sets out how these cases were employed by Roman-Dutch lawyers to give shape to limited liability of shipowners for unlawful acts of their shipmaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the nauseating and recurring problem of sexual harassment of female students by lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions in recent times and questions whether the extant regulatory and policy frameworks are weak in addressing the problem. The recent exposure of sexual misconduct or "sex-for-marks" by some Nigerian university lecturers in a 53-minutes video released by a BBC African Eye secret agent, Kiki Mordi, appearing as a young applicant in search of an admission into a Nigerian university, illustrates that sexual harassment is ubiquitous in our higher educational institutions. Previous literature in this area have pointed out that there is a prevalence of female students being sexually pressured by their male lecturers in Nigerian higher institutions of learning, regardless whether they are public, private or faith-based institutions. But whether such pervasiveness and moral decadence is encouraged by dearth of binding or enforceable regulatory and policy frameworks is relatively lacking in most of the past articles examined. Also the repercussion on tertiary institutions, as employers, by way of vicarious liability arising from the sexual abuses perpetuated against female students by their employees would be examined in this article. To these extents, this article will fill the missing gaps. The study employs both primary and secondary sources of data information collection and shall subject same to content and contextual analysis in order to arrive at its conclusion. The article concludes that there are various potent provisions under existing Nigerian legislation which could successfully be relied upon in prosecuting harassers. The article also recommended inter alia, that the government and tertiary institutions must consciously take bold steps in tackling this malady so that sexual harassment will not continue to be a critical issue in our tertiary institutions both in the present and the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom Supreme Court in Various Claimants v Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc [2020] UKSC 12 held that a tortfeasor's motive was 'highly material' in considering the second stage 'close connection' test for vicarious liability. However, the authors submit that this reintroduction of motive is highly problematic. It runs contrary to previous jurisprudence and backslides into the rigid artificiality which the 'close connection' test was supposed to solve. A revised approach to the 'close connection' test is suggested, involving an objective consideration of the connection between the tortfeasor's employment and the circumstances surrounding the tort. This approach remedies the above-mentioned problems and existing academic criticism of the 'close connection test', and further accurately reflects how the courts actually determine the second stage test for vicarious liability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvard's Perma.cc offers the solution to link rot—the phenomenon that citations in academic journals to Web materials disappear with the passage of time, resulting in "broken links" and disappearance of material from the Web. This article will describe Perma.cc and outline the kinds of copyright issues that may arise, including heavy use of copyright statutes and case law. It will examine the kind of preservation use of copyrighted materials, with reference to fair use, and the library prerogatives as exceptions to the exclusive rights of authors of materials found on the Web. This analysis includes detailed analysis of "transformative use" and the four factors of 17 U.S.C. § 107. It will consider the liability of Perma.cc and participating libraries and institutions under theories of contributory infringement and vicarious liability, including as modified by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) and (d), governing takedown notices. The article concludes that Perma.cc's archival use is neither firmly grounded in existing fair use nor library exemptions; that Perma.cc, its "registrar" library, institutional affiliates, and its contributors have some (at least theoretical) exposure to risk; and that current copyright doctrines and law do not adequately address Web archival storage for scholarly purposes. In doing so, it will question what the role of the scholarly Perma.cc citation ought to play—confirmation of scholarly propositions or preservation of and access to Web materials. The material and conclusions in this article are important for legal authors, law review editors, and librarians (especially those who use, support, or are considering partnering with Perma.cc) so that they might better assess copyright compliance, especially when selecting materials for archiving, such as articles from news sites, blogs, and professional and scholarly papers, articles, or books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 13, the Supreme Court rejected the claimants' argument that Barclays should be vicariously liable for the sexual assaults of a doctor hired on as a contractor to perform medical examinations on employees and job candidates at the bank. It upheld the traditional rule that a defendant is not vicariously liable for the torts of independent contractors. This commentary examines the law on liability for independent contractors and considers whether the Supreme Court decision is consistent with modern employment trends. The implications of the decision for medical law are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2020, the Supreme Court in WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] and Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants [2020] overturned the decisions of the Court of Appeal in applying the law regarding vicarious liability of employees and others (and deciding in both cases that the defendant companies were not liable for the acts in question). The scope of responsibilities which the employment relationship brings, together with an awareness among many businesses of the classification worker, along with the more familiar employed/self-employed status, makes an examination of the outcomes and potential impact of these cases of wide, practical interest for those running businesses, large or small. The review concluded that there had been no dramatic change in the law but that the cases provide a measure of comfort to employers in something of a common-sense view being taken as to the scope of vicarious liability. They also add to the body of case law, helping to ensure that future issues can more clearly be reasoned out of court, with the detailed steer on the application of legal principles which a Supreme Court judgment provides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies two paradigms of vicarious liability. One is an established paradigm of 'liberal agency' found in cases where owner-managers 'act through' workers, with whom they have personal relations, in undertaking work tasks. The second paradigm is found in cases concerning bureaucratic organisations, which are characterised by chains of command and variegated decision-making procedures. Courts have grounded organisational responsibility in features such as structure, hierarchy, and control, which this paper uses to construct a model of the 'deterrable organisation'. The deterrable organisation has important capacities to effect change in behaviour that courts rely on in order to prevent worker wrongdoing. The paper tests the viability of the model against the empirical literature and argues that courts could improve outcomes by a more targeted use of powers to award remedies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ragging has become a serious social evil. Millions of university students are ragged in India every year. While a perpetrator can be sued by the victim; it has not dented the escalation of ragging. Holding institutions responsible for preventing ragging is the only way to curb it. This can be by way of both public and private accountability of universities. The paper focuses on the latter. We submit a victim of ragging can sue the university for failure to prevent ragging for breach of the university–student contract, for negligence, under vicarious liability, breach of statutory duty, contravention of a non-delegable duty, and on the basis of misfeasance in public office by a rogue university officer. A private action will have a salutary effect on society, in particular universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article endeavours to find answers to the question of why the victims of sexual harassment often resign after the harassment, while the perpetrator continues working, and suggests how some of the human cost to victims of sexual harassment can be prevented. E v Ikwezi Municipality provides a classic example of how the failure of the employer to protect the victim exacerbated her suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), eventually leaving her with no option but to resign. Had the employer conducted a risk analysis, it could have prevented the sexual harassment by alerting employees to the content of the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Further, had the employer been aware that it was responsible for the victim's psychological safety also after the disciplinary hearing, it could have taken measures to ensure her safety. The unsatisfactory sanction (the harasser was not dismissed) could lastly have been referred to the Labour Court for review. Unfortunately, the wrong legal advice and an incompetent chairperson led to the municipality's failing adequately to protect the victim. This caused (and aggravated) the symptoms of PTSD, which forced the victim to resign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand's Civil and Commercial Code, introduced in 1925, represents a voluntary major legal transplantation by which Thailand adopted a complete new code based on foreign models. This article traces the development of Section 425, which confers liability on employers vicariously for the wrongful acts of their employees, and reveals that the concepts present in the stated sources of the provision do not match those represented by the section in its final form. Rather, the concepts hint at another source, unstated and hitherto uncredited as a source of this part of the Code, the English law doctrine of vicarious liability. This conclusion sheds new light on the complex process of legal transplantation and legal reform in Thailand during the early twentieth century, challenging the orthodox view, and has wider implications for those considering the societal factors which guide and shape legal reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questioning of Catholic Church leaders in the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed a distinct sense of immunity and lack of responsibility for the crimes of church personnel, which has resulted in stymied justice for complainants in sexual abuse lawsuits. In this article, I explore this immunity by examining it in the context of treatments of sexual harms in other areas of private law, particularly religious exceptions to discrimination law, by which religious organizations are granted immunity from the modern rationale of the harms of discrimination on the grounds of sex and sexual orientation. In situating child sexual abuse claims in the broader sphere of private law, I aim to reveal law’s incoherent logic of sexual harms, and its implications for justice. The example of religious exceptions illustrates an incoherent problematization of sexual harm and responsibility in contemporary legal and political systems that aim to uphold modern values of equality and dignity while sustaining incompatible doctrines of religious autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the UAE legal system as case in point to illustrate certain challenges posed for jurists by the spread of the Internet. Since it enables large-scale participatory multimedia content production, the Internet is surrounded by regulatory safeguards for ensuring its public accountability. In the UAE, the National Media Council holds responsibility for licensing media outlets, including online ones, and for overseeing content published therein. Together, legal disciplines on content, regulatory accountability frameworks and the collaborative nature of Internet content production form the context in which existing regimes, such as for civil liability (tort), call for interpretive adaptation. This is what this paper undertakes, with respect to civil liability claims for misuse of online communication through websites. A close analytical study of UAE law helps clarify how civil liability is established and apportioned between the National Media Council (vicarious liability), media outlets and individual users, alongside other findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vicarious liability has a greater reach within both professional and amateur football than previously thought. The newly-expanded doctrine has opened up vicarious liability for amateur players, and within grassroots teams. A greater range of torts may also now trigger vicarious liability, such as acts of on and off-pitch violence. The Football Association will need to review the scope of the National Game Insurance Scheme, which significantly lags behind this expanded exposure to vicarious liability.Examining vicarious liability in the context of football also reveals significant problems with the current approach to vicarious liability within unincorporated associations. This category developed in the context of institutional abuse within highly-organised religious institutions; it does not mean that this category of vicarious liability should be applied to grassroots sporting organisations in the same way. For instance there is scope to apply a different test at stage two. It is argued that the courts will need to tighten up this category so as not to unnecessarily expose members of grass roots organisations to vicarious liability which is able to be executed against their personal assets. Both amateur and professional clubs may also wish to carefully consider their selection of players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not uncommon for the duty of care owed by a hospital to its patients to be described as 'non-delegable'. Use of this label suggests that a hospital may be held strictly liable to a patient for the wrongdoing of a third party beyond the circumstances in which vicarious liability might be imposed. To date, no higher court has used the label to impose such liability. Notwithstanding, it was assumed by Lord Sumption in Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association that the duty of care owed by a hospital to a patient could be so described when formulating his test for determining the existence of a 'non-delegable duty of care'. This article challenges that assumption and, in turn, the veracity of the test devised by Lord Sumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent decision of the High Court of Australia in Prince Alfred College v ADC is a landmark case in the law of vicarious liability. It is the first time in almost 14 years that the High Court has grappled in earnest with the second stage of the test for vicarious liability. This note observes that Prince Alfred College charts a far more restrictive course for the vicarious liability doctrine than has been followed by UK courts. It examines the different trajectories of the law in Australia and the UK and explores possible reasons for this difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed attitudes towards the intellect, which was long considered to be a feature exclusively belonging to biological beings, i.e. homo sapiens. In 1956, when the concept of Artificial Intelligence emerged, discussions began about whether the intellect may be more than an inherent feature of a biological being, i.e. whether it can be artificially created. AI can be defined on the basis of the factor of a thinking human being and in terms of a rational behavior: (i) systems that think and act like a human being; (ii) systems that think and act rationally. These factors demonstrate that AI is different from conventional computer algorithms. These are systems that are able to train themselves (store their personal experience). This unique feature enables AI to act differently in the same situations, depending on the actions previously performed. The ability to accumulate experience and learn from it, as well as the ability to act independently and make individual decisions, creates preconditions for damage. Factors leading to the occurrence of damage identified in the article confirm that the operation of AI is based on the pursuit of goals. This means that with its actions AI may cause damage for one reason or another; and thus issues of compensation will have to be addressed in accordance with the existing legal provisions. The main issue is that neither national nor international law recognizes AI as a subject of law, which means that AI cannot be held personally liable for the damage it causes. In view of the foregoing, a question naturally arises: who is responsible for the damage caused by the actions of Artificial Intelligence? In the absence of direct legal regulation of AI, we can apply article 12 of United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, which states that a person (whether a natural person or a legal entity) on whose behalf a computer was programmed should ultimately be responsible for any message generated by the machine. Such an interpretation complies with a general rule that the principal of a tool is responsible for the results obtained by the use of that tool since the tool has no independent volition of its own. So the concept of AI-as-Tool arises in the context of AI liability issues, which means that in some cases vicarious and strict liability is applicable for AI actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In O'Keeffe v Ireland, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found that Ireland failed to protect the applicant from sexual abuse suffered as a child in an Irish National School in 1973 and violated her rights under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This note argues that the decision is important in expanding the Court's jurisprudence regarding positive obligations under Article 3 to child sexual abuse in a non-state setting where there was no knowledge of a 'real and immediate' risk to the applicant. It also argues that the case raises concerns about the Court's methodology for the historical application of the Convention and about the interaction of Article 3 positive obligations with vicarious liability in common law tort regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint practice of medicine is currently the most common form of treatment for patients. This practice, however, raises important issues concerning the liability of the various professionals involved in the treatment. Specifically, in addition to the individual responsibility of the tortfeasor, is necessary to determine when and under what conditions do a doctor respond for damages committed by some other doctors or medical professionals involved in the patient's treatment. At the same time, and in connection with the above mentioned, in all such cases must be determined how this vicarious liability is coordinated with the liability of the tortfeasor or, in general, how to coordinate the existence of a plurality of responsible subjects in this area of joint practice of medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harassment is a major deterrent for productivity, loyalty, and commitment to one's job and organization. Unfortunately, many employees tend to experience various forms of harassment in the workplace. The focus in this article is to understand the extent to which the law protects a person from harassment, first based on the explication and application laws in the United Kingdom. The article then provides comparative discussion of laws and practices against workplace harassment in the United States. A major objective of this article is to help employers and managers become more expert in preventing and correcting harassment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the knowledge and awareness of Ghanaian health workers on vicarious liability. It also explored the perceptions and experiences of Ghanaian healthcare workers on the incidence, scope, rationale and implications of vicarious liability in healthcare facilities in Ghana. Towards this end, structured questionnaires were administered to four hundred (400) respondents randomly sampled from one private and one public health facility in Ghana. Their responses were analyzed and qualitatively discussed within the context of relevant literature. Study results show that healthcare workers in Ghana had limited knowledge on vicarious liability. Further, vicarious liability of healthcare facilities in Ghana were the result of treatment without consent, breach of patient's confidentiality, negligence, assault, battery, nuisance, patient abandonment, and wrongful diagnosis or treatment procedure by healthcare personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Italian tradition, family and liability law always were separated. But now, judges, and even the Parliament, introduced liability in the family, between husband and wife and also between parents and children. This article would like to verify if it is possible to find a common basis for this new type of parents' liability with their liability for the damages due to the fact of their children [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on Great Britain's Law Commission Consultation Paper No. 195, entitled Criminal Liability in Regulatory Contexts, which seeks to restrain the deployment of regulatory criminal law. The highlights of the proposals are described. A discussion on the background of the consultation paper is also included. The author concludes that the commission is strongly of the opinion that criminal law should be used only where there is stigma and that it should not be used to simply to regulate behaviour.

The article discusses several courts cases regarding the civil liability that originated from the explosion involving the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot in Hertfordshire, England. It states that the High Court's decisions cover a massive area of legal territory and the series of events that led to the explosion. Furthermore, it mentions that the proceedings regarding the explosion has not yet reached its finality due to the civil proceedings on the damages caused by the explosion.

The purpose of this article is to explore direct and indirect liability of social work supervisors. Specific case law is examined as it applies to malpractice liability-enterprise liability, educational malpractice, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, and borrowed servant rule. Case examples are used to illustrate areas of risk. Strategies for risk reduction are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the concept of vicarious liability in the law of tort. Discussion of the case 'Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd'; Theories adopted by courts and academics.

As evidence of the extent of the abuse of children in residential care increases, our understanding of this terrible wrong has altered. These assaults are an institutional syndrome, at the same time that they are individual crimes; certain systems of institutional care are conducive to/foster abuse behaviour (acting as 'crucibles' rather than 'honeypots'for rogue paedophiles). A theory of vicarious (institutional) liability is appropriate if we understand a syndrome of institutional abuse in this way, as involving institutional responsibility in addition to individual fault. The recent decision of the Canadian Supreme Court in Bazley v Curry found a children's home vicariously liable for sexual assaults of an employee on the basis of responsibility through the creation of risk, an analysis of and apportionment of liability which is appropriate to the special syndrome of institutional abuse, while encouraging deterrence and providing fair and practical compensation to victims. This analysis/liability is supported by an economic analysis of institutional child abuse and decision making in child protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has launched an updated edition of its UK guidance for nurses entitled 'Advanced preparation of insulin syringes for adult patients to administer at home' (RCN 2015). The RCN views the practice of pre-loading insulin necessary for the small minority of patients unable to use insulin pen devices, but this should only be considered after all other options have been exhausted because there are legal and safety complexities associated with this practice about which registered nurses must be aware. This article will outline those issues to assure vicarious liability protection from the nurse's employer before undertaking this practice. It will also provide an overview of the framework requirements and necessary inclusions for a 'best practice policy', as well as outline the RCN Diabetes Nursing Forum recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government has responded to criticism about a legal loophole in the protection of those who report poor practice in the interest of the public. The gap in protection, which limited any liability for the detrimental treatment of whistleblowers to their employers and excluded detriment caused by co-workers, threatened to derail plans for the introduction of a duty of candour on healthcare providers as recommended by the Francis Report. In this article, the author describes how changes to the law set out in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 will improve protection for nurses who report poor practice and explains the role of Public Concern at Work in providing advice and support to nurses who wish to report poor practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]