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03 November 2017 / Ceri-Siân Williams
Issue: 7768 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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Vicarious liability & the delegation of duty

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The trend of expansion within the law of vicarious liability is likely to continue, says Ceri-Siân Williams

  • Could a non-delegable duty arise in situations where a deliberate assault is alleged?
  • The doctrine of vicarious liability has seen significant movement over the past decade.

In the highly publicised case of Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council [2017] UKSC 60, [2017] All ER (D) 87 (Oct) the appellant had been abused her foster parents. Although the abuse was not as a result of any negligence on the part of the local authority, the Supreme Court was asked to adjudicate on whether the local authority should nonetheless be obliged to compensate the appellant for the abuse. The appellant’s case was that the local authority was liable because it owed her a non-delegable duty of care and/or because it was vicariously liable for the foster parents’ deliberate wrongful acts.

No non-delegable duty

The court (Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes) unanimously found that a non-delegable duty did not exist because:

  • parents
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