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20 April 2012 / Nicholas Bevan
Issue: 7510 / Categories: Features , Personal injury
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Trial & error

Successive governments have failed to protect RTA victims. It’s time to act, says Nicholas Bevan

Two recent conflicting Court of Appeal decisions throw our government’s failure to implement Community law into sharp focus. In the first case, the Court of Appeal applied the correct approach to interpreting our national law in the light of European Community law and revealed a longstanding inconsistency between the compensatory safeguards provided by our state and that prescribed under Community law. That issue was referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for guidance. In the second appeal, which was heard 11 months later, a differently constituted Court of Appeal failed to adhere to the principles applied in the first. In doing so it took a wrong path that ultimately lead to its erroneous decision.

The appeals feature three separate road accidents but each had the following in common: 
  • seriously injured passengers claiming against their drivers; 
  • third party motor insurance cover in place for the vehicles in which the passengers were riding;
  • the driver responsible was not covered to drive
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft strengthens Scottish real estate capabilitywith partner appointment

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Brendan Ryan as partner in Public Law Projects team

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers welcomes five new barristers

NEWS
Pro bono is celebrating a silver anniversary, with initiatives putting businesses and students at the heart of access to justice
Choosing the wrong expert can cost a clinical negligence claimant more than their case
Judges risk weakening their own independence by staying silent over government reforms, a leading public lawyer argues
A discount on damages does not automatically mean an equivalent haircut for legal costs in military deafness claims
Police powers targeting concealed identities at protests come with procedural conditions that could determine whether prosecutions succeed
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