Animals Act 1971 (Amendment) Bill

The hon. Gentleman probably means the driver. If a driver drove into the wall outside my house, they would probably have been negligent in the process. The hon. Gentleman raises a more interesting question, which is the issue of strict liability. We have strict liability elsewhere in the law—there is no doubt about that—in circumstances where it is appropriate. I remember when I was a young articled clerk sweating through section 14 of the Factories Act 1961—thou shalt guard a machine. If someone did not, and a worker got a finger chopped off, that person was liable. The worker might have shown contributory negligence and the compensation might have been reduced, but there was strict liability. The person whose machine it was was responsible for it. Similarly, here, it is a case of saying, ““It's your dog. You are responsible for it.”” If that dog injures somebody, the owner should have to pay for it. There are examples elsewhere in the law, too—I hope to give some of them later—of where strict liability applies when it is considered appropriate, although that is not the case throughout society. We also see semi-strict liability appearing in the law in other circumstances. For example, in motoring cases, generally speaking the law will apply a much higher standard to a driver who injures a pedestrian than to one who hits another vehicle. That is how the law has developed in relation to how the standard of carelessness is applied. To suggest that somehow this is a novel concept and that we do not have strict liability in the law anywhere else is wrong. Do I advocate strict liability throughout society? That is somewhat utopian; I would like to see it, but it is a somewhat utopian dream. [Interruption.] Yes, the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome is a Liberal; he wants utopia.