Economic loss: Closing Pandora's Box?

Abstract

Five years ago, Junior Books v Veitchi [1983] 1 AC 520; 2/1 SS 58 was feared by professionals to be the opening salvo by the courts in an attack which would expand the scope of tort rights at the expense of the sanctity of contractual arrangements. Since then, however, most courts have found ways of ignoring, side‐stepping or rewriting that infamous House of Lords judgment. Recent decisions by the Court of Appeal provide strong evidence that the most far‐reaching implications of Junior Books have been resisted. Indeed, it will be seen that the relationship of tort and contract may be even less favourable to Plaintiffs today than it was in the period immediately prior to that landmark.

Citation

Ross, M.G. (1989), "Economic loss: Closing Pandora's Box?", Structural Survey, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 82-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb006304