STEPHEN LEWIS looks at the impact of a recent Law Lords ruling on our compensation claim culture.

SOME of Britain's most senior judges gave the clearest possible signal last week that Britain's growing US-style "compensation culture" has gone far enough.

In a landmark ruling, they said the "unrestrained culture of blame and compensation" was an "evil" which threatened to interfere with civil liberties.

The judgement came in the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, where five Law Lords ruled unanimously against John Tomlinson who sued his local authority when he was paralysed after ignoring warning signs before diving into a lake in Cheshire.

The judges did not pull their punches. One of the five, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough, said in his ruling: "Does the law require that all trees be cut down because some youths may climb them and fall?

"Does the law require the coastline and other beauty spots to be lined with warning notices? Does the law require that attractive waterside picnic spots be destroyed because of a few foolhardy individuals who choose to ignore warning notices and indulge in activities dangerous only to themselves? The answer to all these questions is... no."

Arguing otherwise amounted to an attack on the freedom of ordinary people to engage in dangerous, but otherwise harmless, pastimes and to enjoy the countryside, said Lord Hobhouse.

"The pursuit of an unrestrained culture of blame and compensation has many evil consequences," he said. "One is certainly the interference with the liberty of the citizen."

It is a ruling likely to raise cheers from those who feel the pursuit of compensation is reaching ridiculous levels.

Overweight from eating too much ice- cream or too many burgers and fries?

Sue the manufacturers.

Disappointed because your day at the beach turned into a rain-soaked fiasco?

Sue the weatherman for getting the forecast wrong.

There are real costs to society of this culture of blame and compensation, says solicitor Jonathan Mortimer, head of commercial litigation at York law firm Langleys.

It is right, he stresses, that under certain circumstances people should be entitled to claim compensation through the courts.

But in America the litigation culture has already gone too far and we are in danger of following.

Jonathan says there are reported instances in the United States of teachers being unable to maintain discipline in school because they are afraid of being sued by pupils or their family.

"And there are examples of doctors and hospitals not learning by their mistakes but, instead, covering them up to avoid possible claims."

He says the situation in this country is still "nowhere near" as grave as in the United States.

"But there is a general perception by many members of the public, and particularly businesses, that we are now starting to see in this country a litigation culture similar to that of America. And there is no doubt we are tending towards a greater awareness of claims ourselves."

Just why this is the case is less clear. The influence of American culture upon our own must be one factor.

The publicity given to successful compensation claims may be another. Our increasing litigiousness could even be partly, at least, an indirect result of our increasing awareness of our rights as citizens that was encouraged under John Major's Citizen's Charter.

Whatever the cause, the consequences are real, says Jonathan. "Not only are there wider issues for society, but there are also the more obvious signs which the public will notice. For example, the increase in insurance premiums, additional red tape for businesses, cancellation of school trips, performance of possibly unnecessary medical treatments and the disappearance of favourite amusements for children in parks."

In other words, we all become so scared of giving anyone cause to make a claim against us that, in our relentless pursuit to eliminate all possible risk from our lives, we forget life is for living and enjoying.

However, the worm may be beginning to turn.

Even in the United States there are growing signs of dissatisfaction with the compensation culture. An organisation has been set up called Common Good whose members include government officials and leaders in healthcare, education, business and public policy. It's stated aim is: to cure America's lawsuit culture by restoring deliberate judgments on who can sue for what.

In this country, Jonathan Mortimer takes heart from the recent Law Lords ruling and others like it.

"This case and similar decisions provide me with some comfort that the legal system within which I work will not become like America and that there will be clear boundaries of what is, or is not, a proper claim which should be seriously considered by a court," he says.

For all our sakes, let's hope so.

Updated: 11:08 Wednesday, August 06, 2003