civil liability of good samaritans and volunteers - Law Reform ...

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DRAFT CIVIL LIABILITY (GOOD SAMARITANS ANDVOLUNTEERS) BILL 2009BILLEntitledAN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE EXTENT OF THE CIVIL LIABILITY OFGOOD SAMARITANS, VOLUNTEERS AND VOLUNTEERUNDERTAKINGSBE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:Short title and commencement1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Civil Liability (Good Samaritans andVolunteers) Act 2009.(2) This Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister forJustice, Equality and Law Reform may appoint by order or orders eithergenerally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and differentdays may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions.Definitions2.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—“assistance, advice or care” includes administering first-aid and, oralternatively, using an automated external defibrillator,“damage” includes death of or personal injury to any person;“gross negligence” means—(a) The individual was, by ordinary standards, negligent,(b) The negligence caused the injury at issue,(c) The negligence was of a very high degree,(d) The negligence involved a high degree of risk or likelihood ofsubstantial personal injury to others, and124
(e) The individual was capable of appreciating the risk or meeting theexpected standard at the time of the alleged gross negligence;“personal injury” includes any injury or illness;“purpose that is of benefit to the community” includes the instances referred toin section 3(11) of the Charities Act 2009;“volunteer undertaking” means an unincorporated or incorporated body formedfor the purpose of giving assistance, advice or care to individuals and that is ofbenefit to the community and is not formed for profit.Explanatory noteThis section implements the recommendations in paragraphs 4.62 (definition of“volunteer undertaking”), 4.67 (definitions of “assistance, advice or care” and“purpose that is of benefit to the community”) and 4.85 (definition of “grossnegligence”).Civil liability of good samaritans3.—(1) A good samaritan shall not be held liable in any civil proceedings fordamage caused to another person in the circumstances referred to in subsection(2), unless the damage is caused by the gross negligence of the good samaritan.(2) The circumstances are that the good samaritan provides assistance, advice orcare to another person who has been injured in an accident or in an emergencyor other circumstance of serious and imminent danger.(3) In this section and Act a “good samaritan” is an individual who providesassistance, advice or care in the circumstances referred to in subsection (2)without any expectation of payment or other financial reward.Explanatory noteThis section implements the recommendations in paragraphs 4.71 (scope ofapplication to Good Samaritans), 4.79 (no expectation of payment) and 4.85(“gross negligence” test).Civil liability of volunteers4.—(1) A volunteer shall not be held liable in any civil proceedings for damagecaused to another person in the circumstances referred to in subsection (2),unless the damage is caused by the gross negligence of the volunteer.125
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ReportCivil liabilityof goodsamarit
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LAW REFORM COMMISSION‟S ROLEThe L
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LAW REFORM RESEARCH STAFFDirector o
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CONTACT DETAILSFurther information
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TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 1A Re
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CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION
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Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provision
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TABLE OF CASESAlexandrou v Oxford [
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Kent v Griffiths [2001] QB 36 EngKi
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INTRODUCTIONARequest by the Attorne
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extent to which current law in Irel
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who may have had a “reasonable ex
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1.10 The 2006 Report of the Nationa
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Work had also been done on planning
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1.21 The Irish Government‟s 2000
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ecommendations to the Government on
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that the enactment of legislation s
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circumstances in which a duty to in
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Russia, Switzerland and a number of
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inconvenience to the would-be-rescu
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2.18 Lord Atkin then went on to exp
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intervene and rescue. 39 This has b
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a duty to control the conduct of ot
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voluntarily assumed responsibility
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competence and ability to treat the
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property in a public place and a ve
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is an occupational first-aider pres
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human being whose life is in peril
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without an option to avoid being su
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(d)Economic Arguments2.72 In Stovin
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(g)Indeterminate Number of ClaimsIn
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there is no greater legal basis for
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3CHAPTER 3DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD
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whereby the courts may, as a matter
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conduct in the future. 18 In this w
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“Any person who intervenes volunt
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leaves the victim in a worse positi
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Samaritan could be held liable for
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3.36 It must also be borne in mind
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permissible in the case of ordinary
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scenarios where there is a lack of
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Commission observes that a finding
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In this regard, it is noted that th
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escuer, a quality service is provid
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Page 97 and 98: equivalent services. Furthermore, t
Page 99 and 100: precedent for future claims against
Page 101 and 102: would seem to imply that the standa
Page 103 and 104: that it was unlikely that liability
Page 105 and 106: 4CHAPTER 4THE CONTENTS OF THE GOOD
Page 107 and 108: often important to distinguish care
Page 109 and 110: made those decisions, transfers to
Page 111 and 112: condition that the Good Samaritan a
Page 113 and 114: defined “render” as “[t]o giv
Page 115 and 116: 4.24 The Commission notes that some
Page 117 and 118: equirement of rendering emergency c
Page 119 and 120: statutes in the United States, whil
Page 121 and 122: property is not included. To the ex
Page 123 and 124: 4.41 In the Australian Capital Terr
Page 125 and 126: surgical aid in case of urgent need
Page 127 and 128: (2) General scope of legislation4.5
Page 129 and 130: heart action or circulation of bloo
Page 131 and 132: emergency contains in section 11 of
Page 133 and 134: precise definition of “good faith
Page 135 and 136: 4.82 In the Consultation Paper 135
Page 137 and 138: the organisation‟s work in determ
Page 139 and 140: 5CHAPTER 5SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION
Page 141 and 142: APPENDIXDRAFT CIVIL LIABILITY (GOOD
Page 143: DRAFT CIVIL LIABILITY (GOOD SAMARIT
Page 147: Effect on common law and statutory
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