Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC 728, 251H per Lord Wilberforce. K Horsey and E Rackley, Tort Law (4 th edn, Oxford University Press 2015). (7) Anns v. Merton London Borough Council [1978] A.C. 728, [1977] 2 All E.R. landmark decision of the House of Lords in Anns v Merton London Borough Council.' Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] Anthony v The Coal Authority [2005] Anton’s Trawling Co v Smith [2003, New Zealand] Antoniades v Villiers [1990] Apple Corps v Apple Computers [2004] Appleby v Myers [1867] Arcos Ltd v Ronaasen [1933] Armstrong v Stokes (1872) Parker v South Eastern Railway (1877): incorporation of an exemption clause; Recent Comments The plaintiffs decided not to sue the builders, who they had a contract with, as the firm did not have many resources and instead made a claim against the defendant. Tort law revision games and quizzes on duty of care, breach of duty, causation, remoteness of damage, occupiers liability to aid your study and revision of tort law Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC 728 Facts: The plaintiffs were tenants in a block of flats. The flats had structural damage due to subsidence. This Australian case doubted the House of Lords' decision in the English case of Anns v London Borough of Merton, and Chief Justice Brennan suggested that an incremental / analogous approach should be taken to addressing whether a duty of case should be owed in novel cases. Proximity as principles (2003) 11 Tort L Rev 70 71 © J Randell, ‘Duty of care – the haunting past, uncertain future’ (2014) 2 N.E.L.R 75; Junior Brooks Ltd v Veitchi Co Ltd [1983] 1 AC 520. for the two-stage test of Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC * Lecturer in Law, The University of Durham. Finally, the High Court's decision in Heyman will be considered in the light of developments in other common law jurisdictions since Anns. (8) Kruger v. Coetzee 1966 (2) S.A. 428 (A) (9) S. v. Motau 1968 (4) S.A. 670 (A) (10) Minister van Polisie en Binnelandse Sake v. Van Aswegen 1974 (2) S.A. 101 (A) (11) Bester v. Commercial Union Versekeringsmaatskappy Bpk. 492, H.L. an nhs trust v y [2018] uksc 46 ; anns v merton london borough council [1978] ac 728 ; antonovic v lithuania [2010] ewhc 2967 ; anufrijeva v southwark london borough council [2004] qb 1124 ; anyanwu and another v south bank student [2001] ukhl 14 ; appleby v myers[1867] lr 2 cp 651 ; araci v … The High Court's decision as a statement of the liability of public authorities for negligence will then be analysed. Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1991): pure economic loss; Anns v Merton LBC: pure economic loss; Phipps v Rochester Corporation: Occupiers liability and young children; Roscorla v Thomas (1842): consideration must not be past. (7) Anns v. Merton London Borough Council [1978] A.C. 728, [1977] 2 All E.R. The first is the “proximity analysis”, which involves two questions – (1) was the harm that occurred the reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant ’s act? Holekamp on behalf of Ms. Goodwin emphasized the two stages of the “Anns test”, referring of course to Anns v. Merton London Borough Council [1978] A.C. 728 (H.L.). The author thanks Harvey Teff and Claire McIvor for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article. Anns v Merton was not very significant to the development of the law of Duty of Care. Lord Wilberforce had no difficulty saying that on that basis the duty of care existed was affirmed and … Sutherland Shire Council v Heyman (1985) 60 ALR 1 . 1973 (1) S.A. 769 (A) Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, 580.