O'Byrne v Sanofi Pasteur reaches the House of Lords
30 April 2008
The House of Lords today heard argument in this long-running product liability case, in which the claimant is represented by Simeon Maskrey QC and Hugh Preston.
The allegation is that a vaccine was supplied that was defective and caused the claimant to suffer severe brain damage. The claimant applied to substitute the actual producer for a related company that was not the producer but which had been sued by mistake. Sadly, however, the substitution was made after the 10 year product liability longstop had expired.
A reference was made to the ECJ to determine whether such a substitution was permissible under European law where no proceedings had been brought against anyone who could be described as a producer under Article 3 of the relevant Directive. The ECJ provided an answer.
The High Court and Court of Appeal have determined that the answer provided by the ECJ permitted substitution in the circumstances of this case. The defendant obtained leave to petition the House of Lords. The hearing in front of their Lordships focused on whether the ECJ judgment was sufficiently clear to enable the English Court of last resort to determine the matter or whether there was such doubt as to the interpretation of the ECJ judgment that a further reference to the ECJ was necessary.
The decision of the House of Lords is due shortly.