The Paisley Snail
Who then in law is my neighbour? Donoghue v Stevenson: 80 years on
An International Conference will be taking place on May 25 & 26, 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?
Video - Donoghue v. Stevenson: The History of Law Reporting
Donoghue v Stevenson
August 26, 1928, the ancient burgh of Paisley, Scotland: May Donoghue, a modest shop worker on a daytrip from nearby Glasgow, sets foot in the unremarkable Wellmeadow Café, where a friend buys her a bottle of Stevenson’s Ginger Beer. Unbeknownst to Mrs Donoghue, the opaque bottle hides a toxic secret that, once consumed by her, shall cause an illness that is mercifully brief, yet at the same time triggers a shockwave through the law of negligence that proves far more lasting as it surges across the English-speaking legal world, which it will shape forever, and transforms the unassuming Mrs Donoghue, litigant in forma pauperis, into one of law's best known characters of all time.
1932, almost four years later, the case of Donoghue v Stevenson has reached the House of Lords, where Lord Atkin pronounces his famous judgment:
“Love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour…You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour… a duty of reasonable care.”
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Click here to register attendance and make secure payment for the conference.
Conference Partners
Faculty of Advocates
Renfrewshire Law Centre
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