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Hotels and Entertainment Venues

These claims are subject to the Civil Liability Act 2003 and Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002.

Owners and occupiers of entertainment venues have the usual duty to take reasonable care for the safety of patrons. If a claimant's own intoxication is a cause of the injury, his or her award of damages will be reduced because to that extent (by at least 25%).

Considerations which concern all public places also apply in these types of venues. The scope of the duty of care owed will depend on the nature of the activity being undertaken, the ages and sobriety of the entrants and the number of patrons.

For injuries caused by design or construction defects, the same considerations apply as in other public places.

See also: Public areas

Assaults by other patrons

For potential claims arising out of an assault by another patron, the assailant can be sued individually or, in some cases a claim for criminal compensation can be made.

See also: Assault

Because of the limited scope of recovery in those types of claims, it is prudent to also consider other avenues of compensation.

In some cases it may be possible to proceed against either the venue itself or the security company if security management is contracted to a separate organisation, for example if the hotel or security firm unreasonably failed to prevent the particular assault occurring.

For such a claim to succeed it must usually be shown that one of the following occurred:

  • The relative numbers and distribution of security personnel compared to the number of patrons on the premises was inadequate.
  • Te period during which the altercation had been building prior to the assault occurring was of sufficient duration that a reasonable system of surveillance would have detected and prevented the assault. (An hotel is not liable for an assault which occurs without any warning whatsoever).
  • The assailant was previously unruly, violent or exhibiting signs of intoxication such that a reasonable system of management would have ensured that he or she was ejected from the premises prior to the assault.

Assaults by security personnel

Compensation may be available for this type of injury by way of lawsuit against the assailant or criminal compensation in some cases.

See also: Assault

Because of the limited scope of recovery in those claims, it is prudent to also consider other avenues of compensation.

The success of a civil claim against the venue or the security firm depends on whether the act which caused the injury with it was within the scope of the authority of the employee who performed it. An employer hotel or security firm will usually not be liable if one of its personnel is acting entirely outside the scope of his or her duties on a frolic of his or her own.

An exception to this may arise where the employer has been insufficiently diligent in screening the history of a violent employee who causes the injury.

The criminal defences of provocation and self defence are also available in civil law suits. These defences can not be relied on where the extent of force used by the security personnel was unreasonable.

Often video records of events which occur on entertainment venues exist. It is prudent to promptly notify the venue after an assault occurring and require it to preserve the video records so that they are available for any subsequent court hearing or police investigation.

As in the case of all assaults, those which occur at entertainment venues should be reported to police promptly and medical attention should be obtained with a view to recording the extent of injuries.