Tort and Human Rights*

Abstract

The fact that the citizens in Britain have not, up to now, had the benefit of any detailed statutory Bill of Rights has not of course meant that human rights in the country have lacked all legal protection. It has meant that the task of protecting citizens' human rights has fallen, in a rather piecemeal way, to other parts of the law. One of these is what English lawyers call the law of tort. Broadly speaking, the law of tort or delict comprises that part of the law where the claim for injury or damage forms the only legal bond between the parties. Professor John Fleming was an internationally renowned scholar, specialising in the law of tort, and on his retirement a volume of essays was published in his honour. This chapter seeks to explore the contribution made by the law of tort to the protection of human rights.