Mike Willis and Glenn Campbell review US and UK approaches to summary judgments
An ongoing debate in the US considers the extent to which it is permissible to have regard to the judgments of foreign courts in adjudicating on US constitutional rights and restrictions. In Scott v Harris (2007) 127 S Ct 1769, on 30 April 2007, Justice Scalia was in the majority when the Supreme Court overruled a lower court decision—on a claim for damages by a motor accident victim following a high speed police chase—that summary judgment was not available on the issue of whether or not the conduct of the police was lawful. Justice Scalia set out the facts and the issues and, on the question of whether or not summary judgment could be ordered, held that it could.
MILLER v GARTON SHIRES
Justice Scalia’s approach is consistent with the recent consideration of a similar point by District Judge Spencer sitting in Leeds in Miller v Garton Shires [2007] PNLR 273. This was a solicitors’ negligence action which also arose out of a traffic accident. The Court of Appeal upheld the
