Overview

The judgment of the UK’s Court of Appeal in the combined appeals more commonly known as the Employers' Liability Trigger Litigation was handed down this month.

The Court, in a fragmented judgment, allows some of the appeals from the order of Burton J, but a number of the appellants were unsuccessful. Lord Justice Rix’s lead judgment also indicates that he considers himself bound by the previous decision in Bolton v MMI and that, were he not bound by the Appeal Court’s previous decision, he would have found to the contrary.

In combination, the position is therefore wholly unsatisfactory and it appears inevitable that this matter will proceed to the Supreme Court. This briefing from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert has the details of what the judgment has clarified; what it hasn’t’ and what happens next.