Occupiers' liability

Although the summer can be a quiet time in the courts, the Court of Appeal recently published several judgments, two of which concerned personal injury claims. The first concerned an appeal by the Ministry of Defence against a decision in favour of a claimant under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957. He was a soldier who had sustained a serious brain injury after falling over a defective banister rail in army accommodation. The second deals with the scope of liability of a public authority for negligence and nuisance, demonstrating the continuation of an established restrictive approach taken by the courts when the central issue concerns an omission rather than a positive act.