Paul McClorry discusses jurisdiction in claims which occur in countries outside of the EU
- Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated v Brownlie: re-opening the jurisdictional gateway for personal injury claims?
The Supreme Court handed down its long awaited judgment in the case of Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated v Brownlie [2017] UKSC 80, [2017] All ER (D) 102 (Dec) on 19 December 2017. The case develops several important issues in English personal injury claims where the incident occurs outside of the EU.
Accident circumstances
In January 2010, Lady Brownlie and her husband, Sir Ian Brownlie QC (a renowned international lawyer), were on holiday in Egypt, staying at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. On a previous trip to the hotel, Lady Brownlie had picked up a hotel leaflet advertising safari tours in Egypt. Before travelling to Egypt, Lady Brownlie called the hotel and booked the excursion with the hotel concierge (an excursion contract not regulated by the Package Travel (etc) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3288).
On 3 January 2010, the Brownlies started the excursion in Cairo in a chauffeur driven car; tragically, the car
