Academic criticism of the tort system in the 1990s : In the years since the Pearson Report was published some of its recommendations have been followed, but, as indeed the Committee recommended, the tort system remains. As the following extract from a recent radical text indicates, not everyone is satisfied:

doi:10.4324/9781843140504-41

Chapter

Academic criticism of the tort system in the 1990s

ABSTRACT

There is no doubt that the publication of the Pearson Report and its barely lukewarm reception represented a turning point in the public debate on accident compensation in Great Britain. The Report’s relative timidity, combined with the election of a Conservative government in 1979, ensured that throughout most of the 1980s accident compensation was no longer on the agenda. Recent signs however indicate a revival of interest in the questions Pearson appeared to answer so unsatisfactorily. In particular, the principle of fault-based liability has come under renewed scrutiny.