“Public authorities may owe duties of care when exercising statutory functions.”
The House of Lords held in favour of Dorset Yacht Co by a 4:1 majority, Viscount Dilhorne dissenting. On a preliminary issue of law, the Home Office owed a duty of care capable of giving rise to liability for the damage caused by the escaping offenders; liability itself was never adjudicated.
Young offenders from a borstal on Brownsea Island were taken on a training exercise by three officers. During the night, seven offenders escaped when the officers went to bed. The escapees boarded a nearby yacht, set it in motion and collided with a yacht belonging to Dorset Yacht Co, then boarded and further damaged it. The yacht company sued the Home Office for negligence.
Whether the Home Office owed a duty of care to the yacht company, and whether public authorities can be liable in negligence for harm caused by third parties when exercising statutory functions.
The House of Lords applied the Donoghue v Stevenson neighbour principle, finding that the Home Office could reasonably foresee that negligent supervision might lead to escapes causing damage to boat owners in the vicinity. The case established that public authorities are not immune from negligence liability simply because they are exercising statutory functions, though policy considerations may limit liability in some cases.
This case is fundamental to both tort law and public law, establishing that public authorities can be liable in negligence. It opened the door for numerous claims against public bodies and remains a leading case on the intersection between private law duties and public functions.
Public authorities can owe a duty of care in negligence to individuals who suffer harm as a direct result of the authority's carelessness in exercising statutory functions.
The House of Lords held, on a preliminary issue of law and by a 4:1 majority (Viscount Dilhorne dissenting), that the Home Office owed the yacht company a duty of care capable of giving rise to liability; liability itself was never adjudicated.
It establishes that public authorities are not immune from negligence liability and extends the Donoghue v Stevenson principle to public law contexts.
Lord Reid emphasized that the Donoghue v Stevenson principle applies unless there are clear policy reasons to exclude liability, and that public authorities should not be in a better position than private individuals regarding negligence liability.
OSCOLA Citation
Home Office v Dorset Yacht Co [1970] AC 1004 (HL)
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[2026] EWHC 1095 (KB)
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