United Kingdom Leading Case duty of carepublic authority liability

Poole Borough Council v GN

[2019] UKSC 25

JurisdictionUnited Kingdom

CourtUK Supreme Court

Year2019

StatusBinding authority

Summary

A public authority owes no common law duty of care for mere failure to protect from harm unless it assumed responsibility or created the danger.

Key Principle

A public authority generally owes no duty of care at common law for failure to confer a benefit or protect from harm; liability requires either an assumption of responsibility or creation of the danger.

Area of Law

tort

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