Personal Injury - Brownlie V Four Seasons

Supreme Court considers where damage is sustained in a personal injury claim for an accident abroad

The claimant was injured whilst taking part on an excursion in Egypt which had been organised by the (Canadian) defendant. Her husband was killed in the same accident. She claimed in both tort and contract. Her tort claims were for (1) her own injuries; (2) her loss as a dependant of her husband (the Fatal Accidents Act claim); and (3) the loss suffered by her husband in her capacity as the executrix of his estate. She obtained permission to serve out of the jurisdiction (in part based on PD6B para 3.1(9)(a): "damage was sustained within the jurisdiction").

The Court of Appeal held that damage was not sustained here because the Rome II Regulation applied, so that the applicable law is the law of the country in which the damage occurs. The defendant appealed on the basis that it was not the correct defendant.