Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 3 (of 3)Paris, John Ayrton
Science
Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 3 (of 3)
Paris, John Ayrton
Medical laws and legislation -- Great Britain
Mr. Sergeant _Vaughan_, on the same side with Sergeant _Lens_, submitted
that it could never have been intended that men should not be allowed
some recompense for loss of time. It would be not only an injustice, but
a cruelty in many cases, if such a principle were to be adopted. Indeed,
the principle was constantly departed from, in cases where the time of
individuals had been a good deal engaged. In the case of _Lopez_ v. _De
Tastet_, the evidence of a Spanish captain of a ship was taken, and it
caused him to delay a considerable time in town, and in the taxing of
the costs a round sum was very properly allowed by the prothonotary,
which, no doubt, was meant not merely to cover his expenses in town, but
to compensate him for the loss of time.
The _Chief Justice_.—We had a consultation, not long since, in a
well-known case, and in another place, whether the profits of a voyage
should not be allowed for, and as to whether a certain sum given to a
captain of a ship should be looked upon as compensation for loss of
time, or in the light of a bribe.
Mr. Sergeant _Vaughan_ said he knew the case to which his lordship
alluded. He went on to say, that the prothonotary had not made any
specific allowance for loss of time as such, but had mentioned one sum
for trouble, expense, and loss of time. As to the costs of the
experiments which had been made, he submitted that in a case where the
subject was quite new, and as they were not made wantonly or with a view
to put a party to unnecessary expense, the costs of them ought to be
allowed. They were made _bona fide_ for this case; the materials and
apparatus were also provided with reference to the present case alone.
Under such circumstances, he submitted that they ought to be allowed;
and he ought to add, that their affidavits set forth, that the
experiments were made in consequence of its being known that similar
experiments were made on the other side.
Mr. Sergeant _Taddy_ followed on the same side, and observed, that while
he admitted the general principle that expenses were not allowed for
loss of time, except to physicians and attornies, he could not see why
scientific men, such as chymists, should not be brought under the same
rule as physicians.
The _Chief Justice_.—For this reason, that to a physician loss of time
is considered as loss of profit. A physician cannot visit a patient by
deputy, as the patient might not have the same confidence in that person
as in that physician, and this I take to be the reason why the loss of
time is allowed. For reasons similar in principle the loss is also
compensated in the attorney.
Mr. Justice _Park_.—Suppose a clergyman, living in Cumberland, were
summoned to give evidence in a case in London, and that being delayed
here for two or three weeks, he was obliged to employ a curate to
officiate in his absence, have you any case where that expense would be
allowed?
The Prothonotary.—Invariably the expenses would be allowed, my Lord.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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