My interest in the relationship between tort law and the implementation of international human rights standards, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights, was prompted by a series of cases decided in the last decade that challenged the English courts to make public authorities accountable for their actions. Perhaps the most notable was the House of Lords’ decision in X v. Bedfordshire County Council, which held that no matter how gross a derelic- tion of duty occurred there could be no liability in the English tort of negligence where a public authority failed properly to perform its statutory obligations relating to children. This book is a development and.
