This ground of appeal would have been unsustainable. Watson & British Boxing Board Of Control Ltd & Anor IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE Case No: QBENF1999/1137/A2 COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION) ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION (THE HON MR JUSTICE IAN KENNEDY) Tuesday 19th December 2000 THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS LORD JUSTICE MAY LORD JUSTICE LAWS Respondent/Claimant The Notice of Appeal contended that there was no evidence that, had the rules contended for by Mr Watson been in place, he would have been treated any differently; the Judge should have found that none of the doctors present, nor the ambulance man, would have intubated the claimant, whatever equipment had been available, because he was breathing spontaneously. James George, James George. The most obvious category of case of a duty of care to administer medical treatment to restrict the consequences of injury or illness, or to effect a cure, is that of the duty owed by a doctor or a hospital authority to a patient. Next Mr Walker argued that the Board did not create the danger of injury or the need for medical assistance. A boxer who suffered brain damage following a title fight in London alleged that the Board which regulates boxing had been negligent in not providing a better level of ringside medical care. Another example was a general direction given, at about the same time, that an ambulance and crew should be in attendance at a boxing contest. * The Board failed to ensure that those running the contest knew which hospitals in the vicinity had a neurosurgical capability. In the first case, he held at pp.761-2: "The claim is based on the fact that the authority is offering a service (psychological advice) to the public. I shall have to examine the facts and reasoning in Perrett in due course, for Mr Mackay, QC, for Mr Watson has relied upon it as providing a close analogy with the present case. Watson claimed that the British Boxing Board of Control had been under a duty of care to ensure that all reasonable steps were taken to provide immediate and effective medical attention and treatment in the event of his sustaining an injury, and he argued that the Board had breached that duty by not providing resuscitation treatment at ringside. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control The Importance of Evidence in Proving a Breach of Duty Rugby Rugby is a dangerous sport with heavy body collisions between players and regularly, multiple players at any given time. 3. * the treatment actually provided to Mr Watson. The Board called to give evidence Mr Peter Richards, a Consultant Neuro-Surgeon with Charing Cross Hospital between 1987 and 1995. If he volunteers his assistance, his only duty as a matter of law is not to make the victim's condition worse. Questions of what was fair and reasonable did not arise. 129. It is supplied to amateur flyers in a kit form which they can then assemble for themselves. In 1991 there were only about 550 active boxers, of which almost all were semi-professional. Tort Case Law. The Bout Agreement, which was subject to the sanction of the Board, provided that: "The bout will be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the WBO and BBBC". 52. The Judge went on to review such statistical evidence as there was in relation to the frequency of occurrence of head injuries in boxing and observed that there had been no evidence to suggest that the Board considered and balanced the difficulty of providing the adequate response to the risks of head injury against their frequency of occurrence and severity of outcome. [7] Paying the compensation granted to Watson, which was eventually reduced to 400,000, led to the BBBC selling their London headquarters and moving to Wales. I am in no doubt that the Judge's decision broke new ground in the law of negligence. Also by Rupert Sheldrake A New Science of Life (1981; new edition 2009) The Presence of the Past (1988; new edition 2011) The Rebirth of Nature (1990) Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994; new edition 2002) Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999; new edition 2011) The Sense of Being Stared At (2003) with Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna Chaos Creativity and . As for the argument that the local authorities were vicariously liable for negligence on the part of those giving them advice, Lord Browne-Wilkinson held at pp.752-3: "The claim based on vicarious liability is attractive and simple. Radio Times - February 1117 2023 - Free ebook download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read book online for free. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the person and an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence. So far I have not dealt with the question of reliance by Mr Watson on the exercise of care by the Board. 5. * Enter a valid Journal (must It was also important to have a prior arrangement with the hospital with a neurological unit, and with that unit placed on standby. 25. Thus at p.1162 Lord Woolf observed: "Once a call to an ambulance service has been accepted, the service is dealing with a named individual upon whom the duty becomes focused. 16. He answered that it took something like the injury to Mr Watson to make the Committee think of changing the practice. The Board exercises its control of professional boxing through a system of eight Area Councils, subject to overall control by Stewards and Committees. These make it necessary: i) to identify the principles which are relied upon as giving rise to a duty of care in this case. We have been referred to no case where a duty of care has been established in relation to the drafting of rules and regulations which have governed the conduct of third parties towards a claimant. at p.262 which I have set out above. Thus it has been held that the prison service owes a duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent prisoners from committing suicide. The request for an ambulance was accepted. This meant doctors able to intubate and put up a drip to treat the injured boxer immediately with Manitol. Mr Hamlyn said, and I accept, that there would have been very few British neurosurgeons who at this time would have questioned the need to put up a line and administer this diuretic in a case such as the present. In this case the following matters are particularly material: 1. CLUE. 13. No one can take part, in any capacity, in professional boxing in this Country who is not licensed by the Board and, at the same time, a member of it, for the two are essentially synonymous. These cases turned upon the assumption of responsibility to an individual. The plaintiffs submitted that that which is most closely analogous is that of doctor and patient or health authority and patient. 62. It seems to me that this is almost implicit in Mr Walker's argument that to issue such a requirement expressly, was to instruct a doctor as to how to perform his duty. .Cited Sutradhar v Natural Environment Research Council HL 5-Jul-2006 Preliminary Report of Risk No Duty of Care The claimant sought damages after suffering injury after the creation of water supplies which were polluted with arsenic. Obviously a full report should then be sent to the relevant Area Council or Board and the sooner this is done, from a medical view point, the better.". All involved in a boxing contest were obliged to accept and comply with the Board's requirements. Lord Woolf M.R. Dr Ross, who was a member of the Medical Committee for a number of years before the Watson fight, was asked whether he remembered discussions about treatment in the ring of head injuries before that fight. "The Board does not create the danger. I do not consider that a conscious reliance by the patient on the hospital to exercise care is an essential element in this duty of care. This concludes my summary of the facts which I consider material to the question of whether the Board owed a duty of care to Mr Watson. A book of rules and regulations 58 pages in length provides, in detail, for the manner in which professional boxing is to be carried on. 88. .if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0'); Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete. In these circumstances the claim against Mr Usherwood was a conventional claim for carelessness causing direct and foreseeable personal injury. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the person and an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence. The Board professes - I do not for one moment question its sincerity - its lively interest in his safety. But it has never been a requirement of the law of the tort of negligence that there be a particular antecedent relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff other than one that the plaintiff belongs to a class which the defendant contemplates or should contemplate would be affected by his conduct. They support the proposition that the act of undertaking to cater for the medical needs of a victim of illness or injury will generally carry with it the duty to exercise reasonable care in addressing those needs. It is, however, clear that the test is an objective one: Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd., [1995] 2 AC 145, 181. The decision is of interest for several reasons. 111. In 1989 it was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. It concludes that, if account is taken of all these areas, insurance has been of vital importance to the law of tort. Once proximity is established by reference to the test which I have identified, none of the more sophisticated criteria which have to be used in relation to allegations of liability for mere economic loss need to be applied in relation to personal injury, nor have they been in the decided cases.". 4. iii) to decide whether these principles should be applied so as to give rise to a duty of care in the present case. 65. The patient is then artificially ventilated through this tube with oxygen. The cases linked on your profile facilitate Casemine's artificial intelligence engine in recommending you to potential clients who might be interested in availing your services for similar matters. No contest shall take place unless fully trained personnel are able to operate such resuscitation equipment are present throughout the promotion.". 124. I now come to the second special feature of this case - the fact that the Board is not charged with having failed itself to provide appropriate medical treatment, but with having failed to impose rules and regulations which would have ensured that others did so. To hold that, in such circumstances, the head teacher could properly ignore the matter and make no attempt to deal with it would fly in the face, not only of society's expectations of what a school will provide, but also the fine traditions of the teaching profession itself. In consequence, the pupil fails to receive the appropriate educational treatment and, as a result, his educational progress is retarded, perhaps irreparably. "In Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington Management Committee [1969] 1 Q.B. 9.39.3 (added to the Rules on 25 May 1991)). The Board, however, went far beyond this. The fight had taken place in accordance with the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control Ltd., ("the Board"). 107. I confess I entertain no doubt on how that question should be answered. Once you create your profile, you will be able to: Claim the judgments where you have appeared by linking them directly to your profile and maintain a record of your body of work. I see no reason why the rules should not have contained the provision suggested by the Judge. Boxing members of the Board, including Mr Watson, could reasonably rely upon the Board to look after their safety. a) A requirement that a boxer must be medically examined before being granted a licence, together with a list of medical conditions that preclude the grant of a licence. 47. The history of the Board can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century, but the Board itself was constituted as an unincorporated association in 1929. 41. 4. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the person and an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence. In Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd,l the Court of Appeal has upheld an unprecedented decision that a regulatory body can be liable for negligence in the exercise of its rule-making functions. about 23.01. Attempts have been made, within Parliament and outside, to bring about the banning of the sport of boxing. The other group of cases involved duties imposed on local authorities in relation to children with special educational needs. There is no more justification for a blanket immunity in their cases than there was in Capital & Counties Plc v Hampshire Country Council [1997] QB 1004. Each area had a Chief Medical Officer, whose duties included the approval of doctors who wished to serve as medical officers at boxing matches. Next Mr. Walker argued that the duty of care alleged was one owed for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate number of persons. If authority is needed for this approach, it is to be found in the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Perrett v Collins [1998] 2 LL.L.Rep. Those limits have been found by the requirement of what has been called a "relationship of proximity" between plaintiff and defendant and by the imposition of a further requirements that the attachment of liability for harm which has occurred be "just and reasonable". He could have been treated on the spot, and had an endotrachael tube inserted, been ventilated and thereafter transferred directly to a Neurosurgical Unit where CT scan facilities were available. In my judgment there is a clear distinction between the role of the Board and the role of a fire service or the police service. Boxing is the only sport where this is the object of the exercise. Mr Watson received resuscitation and neuro-surgery in hospital in circumstances that I shall describe when I come to deal with causation. In Barrett v. Ministry of Defence [1995] 1 WLR a naval rating drank himself into a state of insensibility at the Royal Navy Air Station where he was serving. It seems to me that the authorities support a principle that where A places himself in a relationship to B in which B's physical safety becomes dependent upon the acts or omissions of A, A's conduct can suffice to impose on A, a duty to exercise reasonable care for B's safety. 95. He contended that they were in breach of this duty with the consequence that he did not receive the immediate medical attention at the ringside that his condition required. The comparison drawn by Mr Walker between the Board and a rescuer is not apt. Mr Watson's case, in essence, was that there should have been a different regime in place - Mr Walker described it as an intensive care unit at the ringside. There is no doubt that once the relationship of doctor and patient or hospital authority and admitted patient exists, the doctor or the hospital owe a duty to take reasonable care to effect a cure, not merely to prevent further harm. Serious brain damage such as that suffered by Mr Watson, though happily an uncommon consequence of a boxing injury, represented the most serious risk posed by the sport and one that required to be addressed. Match. Enhance your digital presence and reach by creating a Casemine profile. The onlookers derive entertainment, but none of the physical and moral benefits which have been seen as the fruits of engagement in many sports.". if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3-0'); Cited by: Cited Binod Sutradhar v Natural Environment Research Council CA 20-Feb-2004 The defendant council had carried out research into a water supply in India in the 1980s. First he submitted that the Board exercises a public function which it has assumed for the public good. radio The Law Commission in its 1994 Consultation Paper No.134 "Criminal Law: Consent and Offences Against the Person" recognised that boxing was an anomaly in English law. Mr. Walker advanced five arguments in support of the proposition that there was insufficient proximity to give rise to a duty of care on the facts of this case. The arrival of the ambulance was greatly delayed without any reasonable explanation. i) that it owed no duty of care to Mr Watson; ii) that if it owed the duty alleged, it committed no breach; and. 31. Held: The respondent had not assumed a general responsibility to all road users . In Cassidy v Ministry of Health [1951] 2 K.B. Such treatment had been standard form in hospitals for many years prior to 1991. [3] Watson spent 40 days in a coma and 6 years in a wheelchair, with doctors initially predicting that he would never walk again. that the negligence alleged fell into the category of directly causing foreseeable personal injury, both he and Swinton Thomas L.J. It made provision in its Rules for the medical precautions to be employed and made compliance with these Rules mandatory. 128. He emphasised that the Board does not provide medical treatment or employ doctors. 127. Therefore in giving that advice he owes a duty to the child to exercise the skill and care of a reasonable advisory teacher.". 17. The first of these to enter the ring, Dr Shapiro, reached Mr Watson seven minutes after the fight had been stopped, i.e. In Caparo v Dickman at p.617 Lord Bridge considered a series of decisions of the Privy Council and the House of Lords in relation to the duty of care in negligence and summarised their effect as follows:-. There an operation was carried out to evacuate a sub-dural haematoma. The principles alleged to give rise to a duty of care in this case are those of assumption of responsibility and reliance. 3.5.1 A Referee shall officiate inside the boxing ring to score the contest and act as sole arbiter of the Rules of Boxing except for British and Commonwealth Championship contests, or other such contest that the Stewards in their absolute discretion deem appropriate. Before confirming, please ensure that you have thoroughly read and verified the judgment. .Cited Geary v JD Wetherspoon Plc QBD 14-Jun-2011 The claimant, attempting to slide down the banisters at the defendants premises, fell 4 metres suffering severe injury. [2001] QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England The relevant allegations of negligence can be summarised as follows: * The Board failed to inform itself adequately about the risks inherent in a blow to the head; * The Board failed to require the provision of resuscitation equipment at the venue, together with the presence of persons capable of operating such equipment. Held: There is a close link between the tests in law for proximity . In answer to a claim by the workman, the architect argued that his only duty was the contractual duty that he owed to the owners of the building. Michael Watson was a boxer who, on 21 September 1991, fought Chris Eubank under the supervision of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), the British professional boxing governing body. Furthermore, if an ambulance service is called and agrees to attend the patient, those caring for the patient normally abandon any attempt to find an alternative means of transport to the hospital". After the operation Mr Watson was taken to the intensive care unit where he arrived at 04.45. It was foreseeable that the claimant could suffer personal injuries if there was delay. The Board had given notice that he would be called as a witness and submitted the witness statement from him. The Judge referred (Transcript p.17) to the question of whether to attach a duty of care to the facts of the present case would be an acceptable incremental extension of established liabilities, or too long a step. I do not believe that the evidence admits of any accurate answer to this question but that is by no means an uncommon situation in cases of this sort. The Board's assumption of responsibility in relation to medical care probably relieved the promoter of such responsibility. held that, on the facts, a duty of care had existed. Flashcards. Lord Steyn stated:-, "Since the decision in Dorset Yacht Co. v The Home Office [1970] AC 1004, it has been settled law that the elements of foreseeability and proximity as well as considerations of fairness, justice and reasonableness are relevant to all cases whatever the nature of the harm sustained by the plaintiff..". Had the ambulance been, in fact, just as satisfactory, this would have meant that the absence of a Rule requiring such a facility would have had no causative effect. I turn to the distinctive features of this case. In support of that proposition Mr. Walker relied upon, 79. At the hospital Mr Watson was given the conventional resuscitation procedure - that is intubation, ventilation, oxygen and an infusion of Manitol. Considerations of insurance are not relevant. They alleged that the local authorities had provided services under which, in one case, educational psychologists and, in the other, advisory teachers provided advice to teaching staff and parents as to whether children had special educational needs. 3. The General Medical Council clearly states that a doctor must offer help when off-duty, if an emergency arises. Its experience, contacts and resources exceed his own. This decision turned, essentially, on considerations of policy in relation to the role of a classification society in the context of the complex arrangements for sharing, limiting and insuring the risks inherent in carriage of goods by sea. This passage was approved by Lord Steyn when the case reached the House of Lords [1996] AC 211 at 235. Creating a unique profile web page containing interviews, posts, articles, as well as the cases you have appeared in, greatly enhances your digital presence on search engines such Google and Bing, resulting in increased client interest. for the existence of a duty of care were present. Despite this statement, Ian Kennedy J. suggested that where there was a potential for physical injury there was no need to go beyond the test of foreseeability in deciding whether a duty of care existed, relying on Perrett v. Collins [1998] 255. A primary stated object of the Board was to look after its boxing member's physical safety. It did not summon medical assistance and its supervision of him was inadequate". The distinction between negligent misstatement and other forms of conduct ceases to be legally relevant, although it may have a factual relevance to foresight or causation. ", 126. That is true as a fact. Beldam L.J. The police have been held to owe no duty to respond to a 999 call or, having done so, to exercise reasonable care to prevent a burglary Alexandrou v. Oxford [1993] 4 All ER 328 [1994] 4 All ER 328. The third category is of particular importance in the context of this action. 106. "One can summarise the aims of treatment of a patient who has been rendered unconscious as the result of a head injury as follows: 1. It was a matter for Mr Watson to choose whether or not to compete subject to the Board's rules. The Board's authority is essentially based upon the consent of the boxing world. 255.". 81. Lord Nicholls posed and answered the following question at p.802: "Take a case where an educational psychologist is employed by an education authority. JURISDICTION TO INTERPRET A FEDERATION'S RULES OF PROCEDURE IN DOPING CASES41 a) Case of Smith v International Triathlon Union (Supreme Court of British Colombia, Vancouver, 2. It was the evidence of Mr Watson's experts that, while brain damage of the type I have described is cumulative, what happens in the first ten minutes is particularly critical. [1997] QB 1004 at 1034. In this the Judge was correct. held that. The plaintiff's allegation is that during this process an alternative gearbox was fitted without the appropriate and corresponding substitution of a propeller which matched the substituted gearbox. The company, as the Popular Flying Association, appoint inspectors for the purpose of, among other things, inspecting aircraft during the course of their construction by members of the association and certifying whether the relevant work has been done to his "entire satisfaction" and the aircraft is in an airworthy condition. In other words, as there were no circumstances which made it unfair or unreasonable or unjust that liability should exist, there is no reason why there should not be liability if the arrival of the ambulance was delayed for no good reason. That phrase can be misleading in that it can suggest that the professional person must knowingly and deliberately accept responsibility. This can lead to an accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood, which in its turn can cause swelling of the brain and a rise in intra-cranial pressure. In 1991 its income was some 314,000 of which some 51,000 represented licence and application fees and about 224,000 `tournament tax', which I understand to represent a small percentage of the takings at boxing tournaments. Before making any decision, you must read the full case report and take professional advice as appropriate. 79. The final point taken by the Board was that they did not receive advice in relation to the desirability of ringside resuscitation until after Mr Watson's injuries. On a preliminary issue the House of Lords held that the classification society had no duty of care to the cargo owners. The issue is whether the standard of reasonable care required the Board to change their practice in order to address the risks of such injuries before the Watson/Eubank fight. (Compare also Clay v AJ Crump & Sons Ltd [1964] 1 QB 533 in which an architect had complete control over whether a dangerous wall was left standing and Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd [2001] QB 1134 in which the Board had control over the medical services provided at boxing matches.) His evidence was that it was his practice to use it where a patient was experiencing breathing difficulties. On his initiative a meeting took place with the Minister for Sport, two of Mr Hamlyn's colleagues, the Board's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Whiteson, and other board officials on 16th October 1991.
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