Overseas Tankship v Morts Dock and Engineering Ltd [1961] AC 388
Citation: Overseas Tankship v Morts Dock and Engineering Ltd [1961] AC 388
Rule of thumb: Can liability for an accident be avoided if it was not reasonably foreseeable? Yes, but it has to be a freak accident/an extremely unfortunate series of events in order for the ‘not reasonably foreseeable’ principle to apply.
Judgment:
In this case an oil tanker started leaking and oil went into the water. In the nearby dock, a piece of molten metal fell into the water. All of the water ended up going on fire and the whole dock went on fire. The Court held that the ship could not be held liable because no one thought that water would go on fire and it was not reasonably foreseeable – this was a ‘state of the art’ development, ‘It is, no doubt, proper when considering tortious liability for negligence to analyse its elements and to say that the plaintiff must prove a duty owed to him by the defendant, a breach of that duty by the defendant, and consequent damage. But there can be no liability until the damage has been done. It is not the act but the consequences on which tortious liability is founded. ... Who knows or can be assumed to know all the processes of nature? But if it would be wrong that a man should be held liable for damage unpredictable by a reasonable man because it was "direct" or "natural," equally it would be wrong that he should escape liability, however "indirect" the damage, if he foresaw or could reasonably foresee the intervening events which led to its being done. It is a principle of civil liability, subject only to qualifications which have no present relevance, that a man must be considered to be responsible for the probable consequences of his act. To demand more of him is too harsh a rule, to demand less is to ignore that civilised order requires the observance of a minimum standard of behaviour’, Visount Simonds
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.