The Paisley Snail

Who then in law is my neighbour? Donoghue v Stevenson: 80 years on

An International Conference will be taking place on 25-26 May 2012, to mark the exact 80th anniversary of Lord Atkin’s judgment.

University of the West of Scotland, Renfrewshire Law Centre, the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates, will host the Major International Conference of the decade in Paisley, the locus delicti, to examine, discuss and celebrate eighty years of the law of tort, negligence and delict.

What was the decision in this most famous case of all time? Why was it so important? How has the law developed since then? What does the future hold? And was it really a snail in the bottle?

The Paisley Snail Case Conference

Practising and academic lawyers from any part of the world and of any nationality are invited to respond to the Call for Papers. Speakers will be selected on the basis of abstracts submitted in response to the Call for Papers.

Abstracts should be submitted by Thursday 1st September 2011 and will be selected by the Donoghue v Stevenson International Conference 2012 Papers Review Committee.

Papers may focus on any aspect of tort, negligence, and delict which is pertinent to the general overall rationale of the event, however, preference will be afforded to the following key themes:

• New insights into Donoghue v Stevenson as arguably the world’s most influential decision (historical, cultural, etc.);
• The influence of Donoghue v Stevenson upon access to justice and the role of crusading lawyers in changing law and effecting justice;
• The state of negligence laws/consumer protection today; and
• Is it time for another Donoghue v. Stevenson (i.e., should we take the next step on to stricter modes of liability for products and other services).
• Donoghue v. Stevenson and human rights
• Donoghue v. Stevenson in the commercial arena

For information about how to submit an abstract see http://www.uws.ac.uk/schoolsdepts/business/thepaisleysnail/call-for-papers.asp

For more background on the Paisley Snail case see http://www.uws.ac.uk/schoolsdepts/business/thepaisleysnail/index.asp and (for a dramatic reconstuction of the key event) http://mucklehen.com/SCLR/content/ (which also features this Blog's very own Prof. Cairns)

Snail Case update: 

Dr Paul du Plessis has called my attention to the Donoghue v Stevenson case's influence in popular culture.  See YouTube for Snail Related operatic interpretations and a new take on The Police, 'Message in a Bottle' (I think you can guess where that's going…)  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Donoghue+v+Stevenson+&aq=f

 

 

Aug 27, 2011