One of the government’s flagship bills for the new term has been dismissed by personal injury lawyers as “at best, a complete waste of Parliamentary time”.
The Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH)—also referred to as the “Heroes” Bill—is intended to protect those who step in to help others by requiring courts to take into account the context of an incident if a negligence case is brought. Writing in a blog on ConservativeHome last week, Justice secretary Chris Grayling said: “I hope that she [SARAH] will finally slay much of the “elf and safety” and jobsworth culture that holds back so much of our society.”
However, Jonathan Wheeler, vice president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, says: “The Compensation Act 2006 came into force to address public perception of a so-called ‘compensation culture’. Nine years later, we have the ‘Heroes’ Bill, which is apparently designed to reassure would-be heroes who hold back because they are afraid of being sued.
“The government would be better spending its time and resources on education rather than legislation if the aim is to deal with public perception.”
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