Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law

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Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law (2006) is a legal text, which marked the first of Cambridge University Press's "Law in Context" series. It was originally authored by English legal scholar, Patrick Atiyah in 1970 and has been taken over by Professor Peter Cane since the 4th edition in 1987. The thrust of the book is that the law of tort should be abolished, especially as relates to the law on personal injuries, and should be replaced with a no fault state compensation system. Its arguments are in tune with the establishment in the 1970s of such a system in New Zealand, with the Accident Compensation Commission.

After handing over the book, Atiyah changed his mind, and wrote The Damages Lottery (1997) where instead of a state run system, he advocated abolition of tort and that people should buy personal safety insurance. Professor Cane, however has kept Atiyah's Accidents in line with the title's original thesis.