Torts Law – Research Essay

Lord Briggs in a UK Supreme Court decision, Vedanta Resources plc v Lungowe [2019] UKSC 20, observed:

It may, like the claim in the Chandler case, loosely be categorised as a claim that a parent company has incurred a common law duty of care to persons (in this case neighbours rather than employees) harmed by the activities of one of its subsidiaries. But the liability of parent companies in relation to the activities of their subsidiaries is not, of itself, a distinct category of liability in common law negligence. [para 49]

Once it is recognised that, for these purposes, there is nothing special or conclusive about the bare parent/subsidiary relationship, it is apparent that the general principles which determine whether A owes a duty of care to C in respect of the harmful activities of B are not novel at all. [para 54]

Critically analyse Lord Brigg's reasoning that there is nothing novel about a parent company's direct duty of care to persons harmed by the activities of its subsidiaries and therefore it is not necessary to apply the threefold test for a duty of care laid down in Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605. How does the Vedanta approach of the UK Supreme Court compare with the salient factors' approach used by Australian courts to determine a novel duty of care in non-established duty categories?

Guidance on Answering the Question:

While approaching the research essay question, students should keep the following in mind:

1. While Vedanta and other related cases deal with several issues, you should only focus on the duty of care in relation to negligence, e.g., is it appropriate to impose such a duty on parent companies as a general principle if certain conditions are met? Was Vedanta not really a novel category? What implications does this principle have for parent-subsidiary relations?

2. Conduct research to find relevant materials concerning this landmark development in the UK. Also explore whether there are any similar tort cases in Australia.

3. Compare the UK approach with the one adopted by courts in Australia: which approach makes sense to you and why? Is there a possibility that Australian courts may embrace the Vedanta principle in future?

Other Guidelines:

• Students must upload a soft copy of their essay on Turnitin through iLearn by the deadline: 12 September 2022 (11:55pm).
• Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied for each day of delay. After the 7th day of delay, a 0' (zero) mark will be awarded.
• Essays will be marked as per the criteria set up in the rubric.
• Your essay should be supported by relevant authorities such as books, articles, judicial decisions, news items, reports and commentaries.
• Students are strongly encouraged to conduct research and use comparative materials from other relevant common law jurisdictions.
• While citing authorities, students must follow the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th edn (2020).
• The total length of an essay (including footnotes) must not exceed 2,000 words. A penalty of up to 10% of the total possible mark) shall apply for exceeding the word limit.
• Bibliography is not required. However, headings and the title page etc. will be part of the total word count.
• Students must include the total word count on the front page of the uploaded document.
• Students should use Times New Roman font 12 for the main text and font 10 for the footnotes

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