Governmental Responsibility in Tort, IV

Abstract

In the earlier articles of this series an attempt was made to present a general view of the Anglo-American law in so far as it involves the right of the individual to obtain redress from the group-nation or state, county or city or administrative district -for injuries sustained by him through the defective operation of the public service or through the torts of officers. While it was hardly possible altogether to avoid the discussion of underlying theory, the intention was to reserve for separate articles an examination of the several theories which have been advanced to deny or sustain the responsibility of the state or government in tort. It is not believed to be desirable to confine the discussion to theories evolved in England or the United States, which on the whole rest upon an ancient doctrine that consigns the issue to sterility. But the western world has much the same economic and social system, and its political conceptions have much in common. Profit can therefore be derived from an examination of the theories advanced in other countries,where the subject has greatly occupied the public mind, for or against the responsibility of the state or minor political group.