Confusion, Contradiction and Chaos within the House of Lords post Caparo v Dickman

This article seeks to demonstrate how decisions of the House of Lords upon duty of care in negligence following Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 have introduced confusion into the law and created avoidable difficulties for those who must apply them. It describes the varying concepts which have been adopted by their Lordships when analysing whether to create new duties of care, and explores the extent to which these concepts are intelligible. It draws attention to the contradictory reasoning adopted by their Lordships, which has contributed to general erosion in the integrity of their judgments. It is contended that the making of just decisions and the creation of clear laws are not necessarily mutually incompatible objectives.