REMEDIES LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

REMEDIES LAW - Essay Example In considering the impact of blame culture, this study will reflect on the attitudes of judges when being asked to apportion liability, and examine case law in this area in order to explore whether recent cases demonstrate reluctance or willingness on the part of judges with regard to the apportioning of blame. Mullender (2006) suggests that the culture of blame might stem from the emergence of professional negligence claims and personal injury claims. In his study he noted that judges had become aware of a rise in the number of claims, some of which appeared to be fake. In McLoughlin v O’Brien [1982]1 Lord Wilberforce warned that ‘†¦such an extension may lead to a proliferation of claims, and possibly fraudulent claims, to the establishment of an industry of lawyers and psychiatrists who will formulate a claim for nervous shock damages, including what in America is called the customary miscarriage, for all, or many, road accidents and industrial accidents’. ‘Blame culture’ focuses on the need to hold someone accountable for what might otherwise have been considered a mere accident. Atiyah (1997) suggests that the culture of blame exists not only in claims for personal injuries and losses, but also in the criminal sphere, where there is a desperate need to find the person responsible for the crime that has been committed, and to see them punished for their wrongdoing. Vines (2008) argues that previously an injured party would have been prepared to accept an apology for the accident as suitable recompense for the harm caused, but with the insurgence of the ‘compensation culture’, apologies are often construed as admissions of guilt, and used in order to claim monetary compensation for the harm. The UK government has attempted to address this assumption through s2 of the Compensation Act 2006 which states that This does not stop the court allowing the adducing of such admissions in court, but is