Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 09:01

From: Robert Stevens

Subject: Lost quote

Could it be

"The personal rights with which we are most familiar are 1. Rights of reputation; 2. Rights of bodily safety and freedom; 3. Rights of property".

Allen v Flood [1898] 1 AC 1, 29 per Cave J.?

Cited as "unusually discriminating and instructive" by WN Hohfeld "Some Fundamental Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning" (1913) 23 Yale LJ 16, 41.

Cave J never became an important judge, indeed I think he was dead by the time of final judgment in Allen v Flood. He wrote the fifth, and by far the best, edition of Addison's Wrongs and Their Remedies, Being a Treatise on the Law of Torts. (If anyone has a copy of this edition, I'd love to buy it.) The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography portrays Cave as quite a difficult judge to appear before, "not suffering fools gladly".

The above quote is the first one I give at the start of my book (you can read the six pages which include the quote on Amazon).

The House of Lords subsequent decision in Quinn v Leathem is rather difficult to square with Cave J's opinion of course. But then, it is wrong.

Robert Stevens

Quoting Jason Neyers:

Dear Colleagues:

I remember reading (and liking) a quote by one of the judges in the early unlawful means or conspiracy cases to the effect that we don't have a right to trade just the ordinary rights to our bodily integrity, reputation, contracts etc. I cannot seem to locate it again. Does anyone have any idea where I could find it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Robert Stevens
Professor of Commercial Law
University College London

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