Court holds Church liable in child-abuse case
The decision, by a majority of two judges to one, will have far-reaching implications for the responsibilities of all employers.
The decision, by a majority of two judges to one, will have far-reaching implications for the responsibilities of all employers.
It significantly widens the scope of their "vicarious liability" for the actions of employees.
The claim was brought by a 48-year-old woman known as JGE, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She said that as a child she was beaten by a nun at a convent-run care home in Hampshire and later sexually assaulted by a priest of Portsmouth diocese.
Father Wilfred Baldwin, who has since died, was said to have abused her in the robing room on the day of her first communion.
The facts of what took place are disputed: the Portsmouth diocese denies there was any abuse and insists a priest is an office holder not an employee.
The judges said it was difficult to agree on the issue of liability when what had occurred had not yet been established, but they were forced to explore the complexities of Canon law governing the structure of the church.
Lords Justice Davis and Justice Ward dismissed the appeal against the earlier decision by the Portsmouth diocese, opening a legal avenue for the claimant's lawyers to sue the church for the alleged abuse.
Refusing the diocese permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, Ward said the highest court in the country was due to hear a similar case in the coming weeks.
Source: guardian.co.ukChild Abuse , Hampshire , Catholic Church , United Kingdom
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