ABSTRACT
Public authorities are responsible for providing a range of important services for children. These services include social services to protect children from neglect or abuse at home and educational services. Some of the earliest reported civil claims for compensation arising out of child abuse were claims brought by victims of abuse against their abusers. In considering a potential claim for child abuse it is necessary to consider the following questions: Is the client still a child? Is the Claimant over 18 but under 21 years of age? and Is the client now a patient within Part 21 CPR, section 1 Mental Health Act 1983? Claimants in child abuse litigation have a range of complaints about the way that they were treated whilst in local authority care or in public institutions. The common law duty of a public authority to protect children from abuse was considered by the House of Lords on three occasions in the 1990s.
