Organophosphate Group Litigation - An
Update
November 2002
In the Court of Appeal on 21 November 2002, Lord Justice Simon Brown,
Lord Justice Buxton and Lord Justice Carnwath finally struck out the
Organophosphate Group Litigation, the "rump" of a legally-aided
multi-party action concerning sheep dip products with just seven remaining
claimants.
The Defendant manufacturers had applied for the cases to be struck
under Part 24 of the CPR, but also on the grounds that the continuance of
the action amounted to an abuse of process as the Claimants had failed to
meet requirements to support their pleadings with medical evidence
satisfactorily attributing the alleged injuries (a variety of what was
said to be neurological and psychological conditions) through exposure to
organophosphate chemicals.
The judgement was also extended to bar the progress of new cases
without the benefit of radically new and compelling evidence.
January 2002
By Order of the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, on 29
January 2002, the claims of the claimants in the Group Action in relation to organophosphate sheep dips were dismissed "on the grounds that
the continuation of those claims is an abuse of the Court".
The cases of Bruce, Sayce, Stoker and Tyrer were "dismissed on the
additional grounds that there was no reasonable prospect of success".
Each party will pay their own costs.
Permission to appeal was refused.
November 2001
In a draft Judgement on 9 November 2001, the Honorable Mr Justice
Morland stated in relation to the Organophosphate Group Litigation:
"Further detailed reading and rereading of upwards of thirty
ring-binders and transcripts of oral submissions have fortified my general conclusion that
on the evidence as it now stands the claimants' claims are unviable, the group action
would fail and that it would be unjust and oppressive to the defendants to allow it to
continue in the hope that at some indefinite date in the future the claimants would be
able to put their house in order and adduce sufficiently adequate evidence on the
all-important issue of causation from experts with the relevant expertise."
December 2000
Generic Claimant’s solicitors recommended to
claimants that the organophosphate sheep dip litigation did not have
reasonable prospects of success.
NOAH Ltd
9 December 2002 |
