Gateway open for British tourists injured abroad to sue through UK courts

Gateway open for British tourists injured abroad to sue through UK courts

British tourists who are injured abroad will be permitted to sue through the UK courts, after a woman succeeded in her Supreme Court case against a hotel chain to establish jurisdiction.

Lady Brownlie took legal action after her husband Sir Ian Brownlie QC, 77, died along with his daughter, Rebecca, in an accident during a safari in Egypt in 2010.

The family had booked a chauffeur-driven tour via the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza.

The widow sued Four Seasons Holding Incorporated in 2012 but delays ensued in part because the wrong company was initially listed as the defendant.

The Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal by the real operator, FS Cairo, which had argued that the English High Court lacked jurisdiction.

Counsel for Lady Brownlie said the case had “significant implications for English nationals injured or killed whilst travelling overseas”. Her case can now be heard in the UK as the court accepted that the damage she suffered continued to affect her upon her return to the UK.

Terrence Donovan, Lady Brownlie’s solicitor, said: “The general principle now is if you are a UK national, you go abroad, you are injured while on holiday or killed and your losses – financial and physical – occur in this country, then the jurisdictional gateway is now open for you. Whereas before you weren’t sure if it was open or closed – now it is much more firmly open.”

Mr Donovan said of his client: “She is delighted. She is astonishingly courageous, she has spent a great deal of money on this but she has never given up. She’s a very dignified, private person who brought this on an important point of principle, in her husband’s memory.”

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