[2001] EWCA Civ 346

It was arguable that there was sufficient proximity in an interview between a police officer and a suspected child victim for a duty of care to have arisen. It was also arguable that a suspect was owed a duty of care where there had been no evidence to support criminal proceedings yet a police officer had concluded that a complaint of child abuse was of sufficient substance that the child was at risk of abuse from the suspect. Further, it was arguable that witness immunity should not have been used to shield the police from suit whilst acting as law enforcers or investigators and a decision to the contrary could have been disproportionate to the public interest both under common law and the jurisprudence of the Convention.

CA (Civ Div) (Maurice Kay J, Keene LJ, Otton LJ)

12/03/2001