Holism over aggregation in contributory negligence

Owens v Lewis [2024] EWHC 609 (KB)

In the case discussed here by Paul Marinaccio Joseph, Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Law and Ethics, Swansea University, several allegations of contributory negligence on the part of the claimant were raised by the defendant. However, the judge held that he would not classify each aspect of "contributory negligence" to be adjudicated separately, rather he ruled that the actions of the claimant would be converged into a single "incorrect decision". It was held that a "holistic" approach should be applied in the deduction process. That is, a single bad decision should be judged rather than focusing on individual components of what was "a bad decision" on the claimant's part.