The Tort liability of public authorities: a comparative analysis

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to explore, and offer an explanation of, a striking difference between US law, on the one hand, and English and Australian law, on the other, in relation to the tort liability of public authorities, namely, the central role of the concept of ‘ sovereign immunity ’ in US law as compared with English and Australian law. The proffered explanation is in terms of a distinction between two models of the tort liability of public authorities, namely, a private law model and a public law model. To explain this distinction it is necessary, fi rst, to contrast pure and hybrid versions of these two models. Show more