Human Rights Act 1998 CASES

October 5, 2025

National Case Law Archive

Lady justice next to law books

Wainwright v Home Office [2003] UKHL 53

A mother and son, improperly strip-searched during a prison visit, suffered psychiatric injury. The House of Lords rejected their claim for invasion of privacy, stating no such general tort existed in English law, and clarified the tort of intentional infliction of harm. Facts In December 1996, Mrs Carol Wainwright and her son Alan Wainwright visited Armley Prison in Leeds to see another son, Patrick, who was on remand. Alan Wainwright had cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. On suspicion that they were trafficking drugs, prison officers required them to undergo a strip-search. The searches were conducted in a manner that failed

September 30, 2025

National Case Law Archive

Law books in a law library

Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2003] UKHL 66

A homeowner whose property was repeatedly flooded by an overloaded public sewer sued the statutory undertaker. The House of Lords held that the comprehensive statutory scheme under the Water Industry Act 1991 provided the exclusive remedy, precluding claims in common law nuisance. Facts Mr Marcic, the claimant, owned a property that was repeatedly flooded with foul and surface water from overloaded public sewers operated by Thames Water Utilities Ltd, the defendant. The sewers had become inadequate to serve the properties connected to them, particularly after periods of rain. Thames Water was aware of the flooding problems since at least 1992