Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

On 30 July 2014, I summarised the Government’s proposals for ‘supporting heroes’ contained in the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill 2015. The proposals have now completed the Parliamentary process, and the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015 is now on the statute book.
To recap, the Act provides that when dealing with negligence claims or claims for breach of statutory duty the courts should consider:

• whether the alleged negligence or breach of statutory duty occurred when the person was acting for the benefit of society or any of its members (section 2) ;
• whether the person , in carrying out the activity giving rise to the claim , demonstrated a generally responsible approach towards protecting the safety or other interests of others (section 3) ;
• whether the alleged negligence or breach of statutory duty occurred when the person was acting heroically by intervening in an emergency to assist an individual in danger and without regard to his or her own safety or other interests (section 4).

The Act will come into force on a date to be announced later.