McArdle, D and James, MD 2005, 'Are you experienced? 'Playing cultures', sporting rules and personal injury litigation after Caldwell v Maguire' , Tort Law Review, 13 (3) , pp. 193-211.

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Abstract

This article considers the impact on the law of negligence of a series of recent cases involving injured sports participants. In particular, it focuses on the perceived and potential influences on this are of the law of the English Court of Appeal’s decision in Caldwell v. Maguire [2001] EWCA Civ 1054. It revisits two rulings from cases involving rugby union, locating them within the context of Caldwell, before analysing the impact of the court’s decision on three more recent judging arising out of sports injuries. As a result of Caldwell there is now a requirement that courts take into account the ‘playing culture’ of a sport when determining a defendant’s liability, with the playing culture being the manner of playing the game that is accepted as reasonable by a sport’s participants. Consequently, the defence of volenti non fit injuria is no longer applicable to sports torts and Caldwell has introduced a variable standard of care dependent upon the level at which a game is being played within its organisational structure.

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