52. It acts as a regulatory rule making body. 129. 106. An example of the ongoing review of safety standards was the Board's decision, in August 1991, that: "In future three Board Medical Officers would be appointed when a major contest was taking place. Mr Watson's injuries were not, however, without precedent. Mr Watson was put on a stretcher, which was placed on a trolley and wheeled towards the ambulance. 67. Found Watson & British Boxing Board Of Control Ltd & Anor useful? Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134 was a case of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that established an exception to the defence of consent to trespass to the person and an extension of the duty of care expected in cases of negligence. contains alphabet). Test. In the first place the paramedic in the ambulance was not trained to use resuscitation equipment as a matter of course where a head injury was involved. 59. The Board is non-profit making. Watson v British Boxing Board, above Michael v South Wales Police, above ABC v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust . If authority is needed for this approach, it is to be found in the Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Perrett v Collins [1998] 2 LL.L.Rep. If PFA was not liable in negligence, the Plaintiff might be left without a remedy against anyone. These facts produced a relationship of close proximity between the Board and those of its members who were professional boxers. 110. 's examination of the ship, and that the cargo owners simply relied on the undertakings of the shipowners, it is in my view impossible to force the present set of facts into even the most expansive view of the doctrine of voluntary assumption of responsibility.". "If the protocol had been in place, and Dr Shapiro had been required to go straight to the ring, he would have begun the necessary procedures within a minute or two of the collapse and so by 23.00. Thus at p.1162 Lord Woolf observed: "Once a call to an ambulance service has been accepted, the service is dealing with a named individual upon whom the duty becomes focused. Resuscitation equipment should be at ringside along with person(s) capable of using it". Explore the crossword clues and related quizzes to this answer. QUIZ. Lord Steyn stated:-, "Since the decision in Dorset Yacht Co. v The Home Office [1970] AC 1004, it has been settled law that the elements of foreseeability and proximity as well as considerations of fairness, justice and reasonableness are relevant to all cases whatever the nature of the harm sustained by the plaintiff..". 125. They argued that if they had failed to exercise reasonable care, this was not the direct cause of the Plaintiff's injuries - the direct cause being that the aircraft had been designed in a manner that made it unairworthy. In such a case the authority running the hospital is under a duty to those whom it admits to exercise reasonable care in the way it runs it: see Gold v Essex County Council [1942] 2 K.B. In Marc Rich & Co v. Bishop Rock Ltd [1996] AC 211 a classification surveyor had surveyed a vessel laden with cargo and given it a clean bill of health. At the outset, however, I propose to identify some significant features of the present case, which place it outside any established category of duty of care in negligence. The arrival of the ambulance was greatly delayed without any reasonable explanation. The Board contended that this was unjustifiable, since it would require Rules which in effect instructed doctors as to how to perform their duties. Mr Watson was the third boxer on whom Mr Hamlyn had operated for similar injuries. depending upon the court's attitude to the case before it. Any such inspector has to be approved by the association". The brain benefits from the increased supply of oxygen and from a reduction in intra-cranial pressure in so far as this was attributable to excessive carbon dioxide. In his Witness Statement Mr John Morris, General Secretary of the Board said "The Board believes as I do, that the safety of the boxers is of great importance and takes precedence over commercial and other interests". In 1991, a world title fight between Michael Watson and Chris Eubank took place in London under the BBBC Rules. He was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance which was standing by which took him to North Middlesex Hospital. In Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd,l the Court of Appeal has upheld an unprecedented decision that a regulatory body can be liable for negligence in the exercise of its rule-making functions. Herbert Smith, London. (Compare also Clay v AJ Crump & Sons Ltd [1964] 1 QB 533 in which an architect had complete control over whether a dangerous wall was left standing and Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd [2001] QB 1134 in which the Board had control over the medical services provided at boxing matches.) In these circumstances the claim against Mr Usherwood was a conventional claim for carelessness causing direct and foreseeable personal injury. "It is these sorts of accidents which provoke the changes". I find this distinction between instructions as to duties and instructions as to how to perform duties elusive and over subtle. Also by Rupert Sheldrake A New Science of Life (1981; new edition 2009) The Presence of the Past (1988; new edition 2011) The Rebirth of Nature (1990) Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994; new edition 2002) Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (1999; new edition 2011) The Sense of Being Stared At (2003) with Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna Chaos Creativity and . No medical assistance was provided. The child was in a singularly vulnerable position. This sequence can result in cumulative damage to the brain, leading sooner or later to death. Of course.these three matters overlap with each other and are really facets of the same thing. 124. In this way the Board reduces this aspect of the promoter's responsibility to the boxer to the contractual obligation to comply with the requirements of the Board's Rules in relation to the provision of medical facilities and assistance. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. The principles alleged to give rise to a duty of care in this case are those of assumption of responsibility and reliance. In that case Hobhouse L.J. In 1991 there were only about 550 active boxers, of which almost all were semi-professional. Since 1929 the Board has been and continues to be the sole controlling body regulating professional boxing in the United Kingdom. In order to explain these allegations, I propose to summarise the evidence on: * the nature of injuries such as those suffered by Mr Watson; * the manner in which such injuries were treated in hospital in 1991; * the manner in which such injuries should have been treated at the ringside and. 45. 43. The Judge summarised his findings on the facts as follows:-. 98. 40. A primary injury such as that described can have secondary consequences which are much more serious. The contest was sponsored not by the Board, but by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO). PFA was not a commercial undertaking. The facilities provided accorded with the advice to medical officers issued by the Board's Medical Committee, to which I referred earlier. Tort Case Law. In addition to the two doctors required by the rules, there was, on the direction of the Board, a third medical officer present. 65. In my judgment there is a clear distinction between the role of the Board and the role of a fire service or the police service. 3.10 The promoter shall procure that at all promotions a stretcher is available for use near the ring. Moreover, since the professionals could foresee that negligent advice would damage the plaintiffs, they are liable to the plaintiffs for tendering such advice to the local authority Like the majority in the Court of Appeal, I cannot accept these arguments. Held: There is a close link between the tests in law for proximity . While Buxton L.J. Thus Mr Watson voluntarily submitted to any risk associated with inadequacy of medical safeguards. the British Boxing Board of Control was found to . The acceptance of the call in this case established the duty of care. To hold that, in such circumstances, the head teacher could properly ignore the matter and make no attempt to deal with it would fly in the face, not only of society's expectations of what a school will provide, but also the fine traditions of the teaching profession itself. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control (1999) (QBD) During a professional boxing contest, the claimant suffered a sub-dural haemorrhage resulting in irreversible brain damage which left him with, among other things, a left-sided partial paralysis. a) Requirements as to protective covering for the ring floor and the corners (Rule 3.4). that the negligence alleged fell into the category of directly causing foreseeable personal injury, both he and Swinton Thomas L.J. This appears to be an attempt to import into the law of negligence concepts of public law. In any event it would be quite wrong to determine the result of the individual facts of this case by formulating a principle of general policy that sporting regulatory bodies should owe no duty of care in respect of the formulation of their rules and regulations. 72. The members of the Board are those who are involved in professional boxing. Similarly, in the case of the advisory teacher brought in to advise on the educational needs of a specific pupil, if he knows that his advice will be communicated to the pupil's parents he must foresee that they will rely on such advice. He had in fact sustained a brain haemorrhage and, after returning to his corner, he lapsed into unconsciousness on his stool. In any event, option B was the one that was undertaken. Later that day, there was a rise in intra-cranial pressure and a second operation was performed, on this occasion by Mr Hamlyn, to remove a new collection of blood and staunch a bleeding vein and artery. There is no more justification for a blanket immunity in their cases than there was in Capital & Counties Plc v Hampshire Country Council [1997] QB 1004. This contention had some similarities to submissions made in relation to the Popular Flying Association in. The owner of the aircraft took off, with the Plaintiff onboard as a passenger. 120. . This Court held that the Ministry of Defence had been under no duty of care to prevent the deceased from abusing alcohol to the extent that he did. 132. The statutory obligations in relation to certifying airworthiness was designed, at least in substantial part, for the protection of those who might be injured if an aircraft was certified as being fit to fly when it was not. 35. The referee stopped the fight in the final round when Watson appeared to be unable to defend himself. Michael Watson was injured in a boxing match supervised by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC or BBBC), which was expected to provide medical care. expounded the relevant principles of law in the following passages: "A minimum requirement of particularity and contemplation is required. In support of that proposition Mr. Walker relied upon, 79. Therefore, it is said, it is nothing to the point that the social workers and psychiatrist only came into contact with the plaintiffs pursuant to contracts or arrangements made between the professionals and the local authority for the purpose of the discharge by the local authority of its statutory duties. An operation was carried out to remove a moderate size haematoma and to close such veins as were found to be oozing blood. On 24 September 1999 Ian Kennedy J., gave judgment in favour of Mr Watson against the Board. As part of the health service it should owe the same duty to members of the public as other parts of the health service. At least 20 minutes, and probably nearer 30 minutes, could have been saved. Attempts have been made, within Parliament and outside, to bring about the banning of the sport of boxing. Furthermore, if an ambulance service is called and agrees to attend the patient, those caring for the patient normally abandon any attempt to find an alternative means of transport to the hospital". 2. I shall revert to the details of this when I come to consider the question of breach. There are many instances of this. One group of cases involved statutory duties imposed on local authorities for the purpose of protecting children from child abuse. The Board controlled every aspect of that activity. The Judge was impressed with the fact that, even then, resuscitation would have been commenced at least twenty and probably thirty minutes before in fact it was. 30. [8], "BBC Sport Poignant end to Watson's epic journey", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Watson_v_British_Boxing_Board_of_Control&oldid=1049029766, This page was last edited on 9 October 2021, at 12:23. It is not necessary for a supposed tortfeasor to have created the danger himself. Watson v British Boxing Board of Control The Importance of Evidence in Proving a Breach of Duty Rugby Rugby is a dangerous sport with heavy body collisions between players and regularly, multiple players at any given time. Once brought into contact with the plaintiffs, the professionals owed a duty properly to exercise their professional skills in dealing with their `patients', the plaintiffs. . Considerations of insurance are not relevant. The Board professes - I do not for one moment question its sincerity - its lively interest in his safety. These facts bring the Board into close proximity with each individual boxer who contracts with a promoter to fight under the Board's rules. This is a further factor which tends to establish the proximity necessary for a duty of care. Apart from issues of statutory duty, the question arose in each group of cases whether (i) the local authorities owed, at common law, a duty of care to the children when considering their needs and (ii) whether professionals advising on the needs of children owed a duty of care to those children which, if broken, rendered the local authorities vicariously liable. On 21st September 1991 Michael Watson fought Chris Eubank for the World Boxing Organisation Super-Middleweight title at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in London. A doctor, an accountant and an engineer are plainly such a person. 3.5.2 For British and Commonwealth Championship contests only, or 79. The architect, by reason of his contractual arrangement with the building owner, was charged with the duty of preparing the necessary plans and making arrangements for the manner in which the work should be done. 51. This can, of itself, result in the restriction of the supply of oxygen to the brain. [5] Phillips noted that the BBBC had taken control of medically supervising the sport, and that the duty of care was not just to avoid injuries, but "to ensure that injuries already sustained are properly treated". 62. IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE Case No: QBENF1999/1137/A2, (1) BRITISH BOXING BOARD OF CONTROL LIMITED, (2) WORLD BOXING ORGANISATION INCORPORATED, (Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of, Smith Bernal Reporting Limited, 190 Fleet Street, Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -, Mr C Mackay, QC and Mr Neil Block (instructed by Myers Fletcher & Gordon) appeared on behalf of the Respondent/Claimant. If the boxer remains unconscious, then full emergency procedures should be undertaken, the stretcher placed in the ring, the boxer very carefully transferred to it, preferably by skilled handlers and, if needs be, the other doctor should by then have rung ambulance control and have contacted the local hospital to inform them of the problem. This contention had some similarities to submissions made in relation to the Popular Flying Association in Perrett v Collins. James George, James George. agreed with Hobhouse L.J. It is clear on the authorities that the duty to take reasonable care to prevent further harm and to effect a cure is founded on the acceptance of the patient as a patient, which carries with it an implicit undertaking to care for the patient's needs. Moreover, the tendering of any advice will in many cases involve interviewing and, in the case of doctors, examining the child. Where a patient is brought unconscious to hospital as a result of intra-cranial bleeding, the practice is first to apply a process described as resuscitation or stabilisation. A defendant seeking to disturb the findings of fact of a trial Judge in relation to causation undertakes a hard task. c) Rules governing bandaging for the hands and the composition of boxing gloves (Rules 3.22 and 3.23). Michael Alexander Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd, World Boxing Organisation Incorporated: CA 19 Dec 2000 The claimant was seriously injured in a professional boxing match governed by rules established by the defendant's rules. The issue in this action is not whether the right policy was adopted but simply whether proper care was used in making provision for medical treatment of Mr Watson. 57. This duty involved the exercise of professional skills in investigating the circumstances of the plaintiffs and (in the Newham case) conducting the interview with the child. The medical room should be situated in close proximity to the boxer's dressing rooms and be reasonable accessible to and from the ring. swarb.co.uk is published by David Swarbrick of 10 Halifax Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 2AG. The Judge accepted that this was the case but ruled that in the final analysis that it was for the Court to determine whether even the most widely followed practice was acceptable. That phrase can be misleading in that it can suggest that the professional person must knowingly and deliberately accept responsibility. In Clay v. Crump & Sons Ltd [1964] 1 QB 133 a building worker was injured when a wall collapsed on him. Michael Watson MBE, born 15 March 1965, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984-1991. The Board assumes the, 89. He inferred that professional boxers would be unlikely to have an innate or well informed concern about safety. As for the argument that the local authorities were vicariously liable for negligence on the part of those giving them advice, Lord Browne-Wilkinson held at pp.752-3: "The claim based on vicarious liability is attractive and simple. But at the same time it countenances and gives its blessing to contests where the safety arrangements are those of its making. Only about twenty-five British boxers succeeded in earning a full-time living from the sport. 119. The duty of the Board and of those advising it on medical matters, was to be prospective in their thinking and seek competent advice as to how a recognised danger could be combated. James George, James George. They alleged that the local authorities had provided services under which, in one case, educational psychologists and, in the other, advisory teachers provided advice to teaching staff and parents as to whether children had special educational needs. 66. In fact the Board had required a third doctor to be present and that an ambulance should be in attendance. The child's parents will seldom be in a position to know whether the psychologist's advice was sound or not. 97. The latter have the role of protecting the public in general against risks, which they play no part in creating. The physical safety of boxers has always been a prime concern of the Board. Therefore in giving that advice he owes a duty to the child to exercise the skill and care of a reasonable advisory teacher.". No reasonably competent educational psychologist, exercising reasonable skill and care, would have given such advice. Once proximity is established by reference to the test which I have identified, none of the more sophisticated criteria which have to be used in relation to allegations of liability for mere economic loss need to be applied in relation to personal injury, nor have they been in the decided cases.". Mr Watson suffered such an injury when he was knocked down in the eleventh round. The Claimant would have been resuscitated within a few minutes of 23.00 and in St. Bartholomews by 23.45 at the latest. In 1991 its income was some 314,000 of which some 51,000 represented licence and application fees and about 224,000 `tournament tax', which I understand to represent a small percentage of the takings at boxing tournaments. This has left him paralysed down the left side and with other physical and mental disability. The Board also argued that the nearest hospital with an Accident and Emergency Department was so close that a system which delayed the possibility of resuscitation for the few minutes that would be necessary to get to the hospital, was satisfactory. I turn to the law. 117. It is, however, clear that the test is an objective one: Henderson v Merrett Syndicates Ltd., [1995] 2 AC 145, 181. Michael Watson was a boxer who, on 21 September 1991, fought Chris Eubank under the supervision of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), the British professional boxing governing body. He held that he was left in no doubt that the Board was in breach of its duty in that it did not institute some such system or protocol as that which Mr Hamlyn was later to propose. I have not heard evidence to the effect that the Board or its medical advisers had before this incident considered, and for some reason decided not to follow, what may not unfairly be called this protocol. The nature of that duty was recently considered by this Court in Capital and Counties PLC v. Hampshire C.C. Secondly, to identify any categories of cases in which these principles These considerations lead to the final point made by Mr Walker in the context of proximity. The Board accepted these recommendations and promulgated them by way of guidance. Likewise, in Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134 the defendant was found to owe a duty of care to the Plaintiff boxer who had suffered more significant injury b.. Request a trial to view additional results 1 firm's commentaries Heading The Ball: Part Of The Game Or An Industrial Disease United Kingdom Mondaq UK The Board contends:-. 87. 2. Interact directly with CaseMine users looking for advocates in your area of specialization. The claim was based upon the alleged negligent failure of the defendant to enforce disciplinary regulations against drunkenness so as to protect the deceased against his own known proclivity for alcohol . The social workers and the psychiatrists were retained by the local authority to advise the local authority, not the plaintiffs. The local hospital was close to the boxing ring and therefore the transfer occurred very quickly and during this period of time, as far as I can ascertain, his condition was satisfactory and the insertion of an endotrachael tube was not absolutely necessary. His conclusions as to duty are to be found in the following passages from his judgment. The doctors required by the rules to be present at a contest had to be doctors who had been approved by the Board. In such circumstances A's conduct can accurately be described as the assumption of responsibility for B, whether `responsibility' is given its lay or legal meaning. If, which I doubt, this conclusion represents any step beyond what is already settled law, I am fully persuaded it is a proper one to take.". Creating a unique profile web page containing interviews, posts, articles, as well as the cases you have appeared in, greatly enhances your digital presence on search engines such Google and Bing, resulting in increased client interest. The subject matter of the advice and activities of the professionals is the child. Held: A certifying . In a Witness Statement in the present proceedings, Mr Watson stated that this accorded with his understanding as a boxer that the Board undertook responsibility for all the medical aspects of boxing, including the medical supervision of boxing contests, in the United Kingdom. . Citation. The Board's Medical Committee had issued detailed advice to Medical Officers in relation to their duty at the ringside which was in force at the time of the Watson/Eubank fight. Ringside medical facilities were available, but did not provide immediate resuscitation. Later in the judgment the Judge suggested, by implication, that the Board's rules should have included a requirement that a boxer who was knocked out, or seemed unfit to defend himself, should be immediately seen by a doctor. The plaintiffs submitted that that which is most closely analogous is that of doctor and patient or health authority and patient. I do not believe there is any difference in principle between giving advice about safety and laying down rules to provide for safety. Watson claimed that the British Boxing Board of Control had been under a duty of care to ensure that all reasonable steps were taken to provide immediate and effective medical attention and treatment in the event of his sustaining an injury, and he argued that the Board had breached that duty by not providing resuscitation treatment at ringside. The wall had remained standing because the architect employed in supervising the building works had failed to advise that it was dangerous and should be demolished. about 23.01. It concludes that, if account is taken of all these areas, insurance has been of vital importance to the law of tort. Michael Watson was a boxer who, on 21 September 1991, fought Chris Eubank under the supervision of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC), the British professional boxing governing body. It was a matter for Mr Watson to choose whether or not to compete subject to the Board's rules. Each emphatically concluded that it was. In a nutshell, his case was that the resuscitation treatment that he received at the North Middlesex Hospital should have been available at the ringside, but was not. He rejected it, holding that the standard to be expected of an ambulance dealing with every kind of medical emergency was not the same as the standard to be expected from those making provision for a particular and serious risk which was one of a limited number likely to arise. Mr Hamlyn said, and I accept, that there would have been very few British neurosurgeons who at this time would have questioned the need to put up a line and administer this diuretic in a case such as the present. This point was put to the Judge. Mr Usherwood, who alone of those involved had technical expertise, might be the only person who had been negligent. 34. Had the Board's rules required Mr Hamlyn's protocol to be put in place, the doctors present could have been expected to have resorted to resuscitation. b) The rule that a Licence may be suspended or withdrawn if, in the opinion of the Board or an Area Council, the licence-holder is not medically fit to box (Rule 4.9(b)(I)). iii) that the breach of duty alleged did not cause Mr Watson's injuries. It seems to me that the authorities support a principle that where A places himself in a relationship to B in which B's physical safety becomes dependent upon the acts or omissions of A, A's conduct can suffice to impose on A, a duty to exercise reasonable care for B's safety. The hospital should be requested to confirm that a Neuro-Surgeon would be on stand-by. If Mr Watson has no remedy against the Board, he has no remedy at all. Thus the. so-called requirements for a duty of care are not to be treated as wholly separate and distinct requirements but rather as convenient and helpful approaches to the pragmatic question whether a duty should be imposed in any given case. Rule 23 of the Board's rules and regulations provided: "23.1 Commonwealth, European and World Championships when promoted in Great Britain and Northern Ireland must be organised and controlled in accordance with the Regulations of the BBB of C except where such Regulations may be at variance with those of any Commonwealth, European or World Boxing Authorities with whom the BBC of C may for the time being be affiliated, when the Regulations of such Authorities shall apply. Creating your profile on CaseMine allows you to build your network with fellow lawyers and prospective clients. 93. This passage was approved by Lord Steyn when the case reached the House of Lords [1996] AC 211 at 235. He was present at the meeting held with the Minister for Sport after Mr Watson's injuries. 70. A. He submitted that, having regard to the chaos prevailing at the end of the fight, Mr Watson would not have received medical attention for seven minutes, even if the Hamlyn protocol had been in place. This has relevance to a number of the points discussed above. expressed a similar view in Marc Rich & Co. v Bishop Rock Ltd [1994] 1 WLR 1071 at 1077: "Whatever the nature of the harm sustained by the plaintiff, it is necessary to consider the matter not only by inquiring about foreseeability but also by considering the nature of the relationship between the parties; and to be satisfied that in all the circumstances it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care.
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