A Borderless Right
Our system of tort laws has truly kept up with the pace of the rest of the world’s. Today a citizen of the United Kingdom, far from being limited and circumscribed by his country’s geographical limitations, can file a personal injury claim even when on a holiday in a different country.
Such personal injury claims are called holiday claims and is really an interesting subject to talk about. According to our laws, every British citizen has the right to file a personal injury claim even if the injurious accident he suffered occurred outside of the Great Britain. A couple cruising in Jamaica, for example, has as much right to file an injury claim, if they suddenly contracted food poisoning because of the negligent staff in the hotel they were staying in.
A problem with claiming such a type of compensation, however, is that since the injury occurred outside of Great Britain, the laws of the country where it happened would also have to be considered. Thus, personal injury lawyers who are experts in demanding holiday claims must also be aware that more than merely specializing in our system of tort laws, they also have to do extra research on the laws of the country where their clients were injured.
The Target
All things being equal, our laws allow a claimant to demand a personal injury claim so long as he can identify, briefly and clearly, who the defendant is. Unless he can point to someone else as the person who has caused him an injury through an accident that could have been avoided, then his claim will not just be dismissed outright, he will even be discouraged by the courts from demanding any claim at all.
“Unless a defendant can be named, then no injury claim can be filed” is a legal axiom in our jurisprudence, and any prospective claimant ought to be aware of it. It is interesting to ask, however, why this has become an axiom in the first place. Why can a person not file a claim without identifying first who he intends to file it against?
The reasons are clear. To begin with, without someone to claim against, then the rationale and essence of a compensation claim is negated. For an injured person, no matter how bad his injury might be, cannot claim against himself or against other people who were not responsible for his injury. Aside from this, without a clear idea of who the defendant is, then personal injury lawyers cannot enter the scene, for aside from answering the questions of the claimant, they can only be a part of the compensation process by negotiating with the defendant’s lawyer.
