Lochgelly Iron and Coal Co v McMullan: HL 10 Jul 1933

Lord Wright coined the term ‘statutory negligence’. He affirmed the need for ‘damage’ as an essential element of actionable negligence, saying: ‘In strict legal analysis, negligence means more than heedless or careless conduct, whether in omission or commission; it properly connotes the complex concept of duty, breach, and damage thereby suffered by the person to whom the duty was owing: on all this the liability depends.’
References: [1933] UKHL 4, 1934 SLT 114, [1934] AC 1, 1933 SC (HL) 64
Links: Bailii
Judges: Lord Wright
Jurisdiction: Scotland
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Simon v Islington Borough Council CA 1943 ([1943] KB 188)
    A cyclist was killed because of the dangerous condition of an abandoned tramway. A rail and the adjoining stone setts were not level with each other. The London Passenger Transport Board had given the highway authority the notice required by statute . .
  • Cited – Axa General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others SCS 8-Jan-2010 (2010 GWD 7-118, 2010 SLT 179, , , [2010] ScotCS CSOH – 02, Times 19-Jan-10)
    The claimant sought to challenge the validity of the 2009 Act by judicial review. The Act would make their insured and themselves liable to very substantial unanticipated claims for damages for pleural plaques which would not previousl or otherwise . .
  • Cited – Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co Ltd v English HL 19-Jul-1937 ([1938] AC 57, , [1937] UKHL 2, [1937] 3 All ER 628)
    The employer had entrusted the task of organising a safe system of work to an employee as a result of whose negligence another employee was injured. The employer could not have been held liable for its own negligence, since it had taken all . .
  • Cited – Woodland v Essex County Council SC 23-Oct-2013 (, [2013] UKSC 66, , [2013] 3 WLR 1227, [2013] WLR(D) 403, , UKSC 2012/0093, , , [2014] 1 AC 537, [2014] ELR 67, [2014] 1 All ER 482)
    The claimant had been seriously injured in an accident during a swimming lesson. She sought to claim against the local authority, and now appealed against a finding that it was not responsible, having contracted out the provision of swimming . .

These lists may be incomplete.
Last Update: 25 October 2020; Ref: scu.190005