Reforming Tort Law in Smaller Jurisdictions: Vicarious Liability as a Case Study

This article will examine the challenges faced by smaller jurisdictions when engaging in tort law reform in the face of limited domestic case-law and secondary literature. This is a question that has received little academic attention and yet is a real issue in areas of private law such as tort that rely heavily on precedent. Courts (and indeed academics) have, as a result, sought inspiration elsewhere turning to the case-law of larger common law systems to promote coherent legal development. Drawing on insights gained from comparative law analysis and a case study of vicarious liability - an area of law subject to dramatic change in recent years -, this study will examine how smaller jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Ireland have sought to modernise the law of vicarious liability by turning to large jurisdictions such as the UK and Canada for inspiration. This study will provide a fresh insight into how smaller jurisdictions engage with law reform in the law of tort.