Occupiers' Liability Act 1957
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| Long title | An Act to amend the law of England and Wales as to the liability of occupiers and others for injury or damage resulting to persons or goods lawfully on any land or other property from dangers due to the state of the property or to things done or omitted to be done there, to make provision as to the operation in relation to the Crown of laws made by the Parliament of Northern Ireland for similar purposes or otherwise amending the law of tort, and for purposes connected therewith |
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| Citation | 1957 c. 31 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 June 1957 |
| Commencement | 1 January 1958 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 (c. 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers occupiers' liability. The result of the Third Report of the Law Reform Committee, the Act was introduced to Parliament as the Occupiers' Liability Bill and granted the Royal Assent on 6 June 1957, coming into force on 1 January 1958. The Act unified several classes of visitors to property and the duty of care owed to them by the occupier, as well as codifying elements of the common law relating to this duty of care. It also covered the duty owed to parties to a contract entering the property and ways of excluding the liability for visitors. The Act introduced an element of liability for landlords who failed to maintain their properties and were as a result responsible for the injury of a non-tenant, something counter to the previous common law rule in English law. The Act is still valid law, and forms much of the law relating to occupiers' liability in English law along with the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984.
Prior to 1957, visitors to a property were classified in different ways, and this classification determined the duty of care an owner or tenant had to them. These were "contractors" such as hotel guests (the highest level of duty; a duty to ensure that the premises were fit for the purposes of the contract), "invitees", such as a customer in a shop (owed a less onerous duty; a duty to take reasonable care to prevent damage from an unusual danger), "licensees", such as a friend invited to a party (a less onerous duty; a duty to warn of any concealed danger or trap of which the occupier knew) and "uninvited persons" such as trespassers (who were owed no duty of care, except to refrain from deliberately or recklessly causing them harm).
The Third Report of the Law Reform Committee recommended changing this system, and the Occupiers' Liability Bill was given its second reading on 6 March 1957 by Sir Harry Hylton-Foster, the Solicitor-General, and the Royal Assent on 6 June 1957.
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