CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

PETR ŠUSTEK CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ and three of her children (one of which died) in the hospital immediately after a road traffic accident. The appeal was granted. The class of persons considered proximate to the event was extended to those who come within the immediate aftermath of the event. In the case Alcock and Others v. Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] 1 AC 310, the House of Lords decided on the claims of the relatives of victims of the Hillsborough disaster, a tragic incident that occurred at Hillsborough football stadium in Sheffield in the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989. South Yorkshire Police was responsible for crowd control at the football match and had been negligent in directing an excessively large number of spectators to one end of the stadium which resulted in the fatal crash in which 96 people were killed and over 400 were physically injured. The scenes were broadcast live on television and were also repeated on news broadcasts. In Alcock case, the House of Lords established the criteria on the basis of which secondary victims are to be granted damages for psychiatric harm: – a close tie of love and affection to a primary victim – witnessing the event or its immediate aftermath with their own unaided senses in a sufficient physical proximity – the psychiatric injury must be caused by a shocking event while the shock must be sudden and not gradual – reasonable foreseeability of the psychiatric damage in a person of normal fortitude in the plaintiff‘s position. 3. Czech law The Czech Civil Code of 2012 (hereinafter “Civil Code” or “CC”), in force since 1 st January 2014, is one of Europe’s newest codifications of civil law. It reflects several modern civil law trends and in certain questions, it adopts a significantly open-minded approach. This is especially shown in its generally anthropocentric nature 27 with a great emphasis on the autonomy of will. This individual-oriented approach is also taken in the case of secondary victims. The general provision on compensation for bodily harm and death is embodied in Section 2958 of the CC, which states: In the case of bodily harm, the tortfeasor shall compensate the victim for such harm in money, fully compensating for the pain and other non-pecuniary harm suffered; if the bodily harm resulted in an impediment to a better future for the victim, the tortfeasor shall also compensate him for the loss of amenity. Where the amount of compensation cannot be determined in this manner, it is determined according to the principles of decency. The claims of secondary victims themselves are based on two Civil Code’s provisions. Section 2959 states: In the case of causing death or particularly serious bodily harm, the tortfeasor shall compensate the spouse, parent, child or another close person for the mental suffering in

27 See for example ŠUSTEK, Petr. Medicínské (lékařské) právo [Medical (Physicians‘) Law]. In ŠUSTEK, Petr, HOLČAPEK, Tomáš (eds.). Zdravotnické právo [Health Law]. Wolters Kluwer, Praha 2016, p. 38.

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