Bereavement Damages: Impact On Legacy Claims
In the recent case of Smith v Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust & Ors the Court of Appeal found the bereavement damages regime in England and Wales to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Overturning the Overturning the , Sir Terence Etherton (Master of the Rolls) held that Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (FAA) is contrary to Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination) of the ECHR, to the extent that it prevents cohabiting couples of over two years from being entitled to bereavement damages (currently £12,980).
The Court of Appeal made a declaration of incompatibility under s.4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), as it was impossible to interpret the...
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