Abuse, Neglect and Human Rights

Members of the Abuse, Neglect and Human Rights team have considerable experience in dealing with claims for injuries in this most complex and sensitive of fields. In relation to children claims, members of the team have dealt with many cases involving historic abuse, neglect and social services failure to protect: including both failure to remove and failure to warn cases, with liability in common law and under the Human Rights Act, and complex issues of causation and limitation. Members have also dealt with Criminal Injuries Compensation cases, including a multi-million pound claim for brain injury caused by historic child abuse. We also have experience in educational negligence and failure to diagnose and treat congenital conditions such as dyslexia. Members of the team also have wide experience of cases involving physical and psychiatric injuries to vulnerable adults: both elderly people and disabled younger adults; in care homes and elsewhere. We have dealt with cases of fatal neglect, and large-scale inquests relating to deaths in care and in custody. We also have experience of claims against public authorities for failing to protect individuals from attack from people with severe psychiatric illness. More generally, members of the team work in a variety of different fields of physical and psychiatric injury in a public law and human rights context, including actions against the police and prison services for false imprisonment, breach of Art.5 ECHR and failure to protect from abuse by fellow inmates, and actions against local and other public authorities for psychiatric injury caused by false allegations of assault and abuse. In the post-Jackson world, we recognise the particular importance of access to justice in this area, and of working closely with instructing solicitors from beginning to end. We are happy to accept instructions in appropriate cases on a CFA, generally on an APIL/PIBA agreement.