17.1 The Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 was passed so that one party liable to a claimant in respect of damage suffered by that claimant could recover a contribution from any other party liable in respect of the same damage.1 The law had for many centuries recognised the existence of situations in which, if B is called upon to discharge a legal obligation owed to A, fairness demands that B should be entitled to claim a contribution from other parties subject with him to that obligation. Thus a rule first developed to cover parties to a common maritime adventure was over time extended to cover co-sureties, co-trustees, co-contractors, partners, co-insurers, co-mortgagors, co-directors and co-owners. “The common link between all these situations was the obvious justice of requiring that a common liability should be shared between those liable.”2