Loss of chance and the evaluation of hypothetical's in contractual claims

Analyses how to calculate damages for the loss of an opportunity by reason of a breach of contract, in the light of the House of Lords judgment in Gregg v Scott concerning clinical negligence. Discusses whether different principles apply to contract claims and torts.

Back from the future:the second chance in the past of aller + infinitive

Typological studies (Bybee et al. 1994, Dahl 2000, Bourdin 2008 among many others) have shown a tendency for spatial elements (such as movement verbs) to grammaticalise into temporal expressions. The periphrasis made of aller + infinitive has been very productive in Romance languages. If in French, Spanish or Portuguese, it refers to future, it refers to a simple past in Catalan. fr.: je vais aller au cinéma esp.: voy a ir al cine pt. Vou ira o cine cat.: vaig anar al cine Barceló & Bres (2005:168) indicate that, In French, «vers le XVIème siècle, […] la périphrase a brièvement fonctionné comme un temps du passé (alors même que l’emploi comme temps du futur émergeait)»: (1) Sur ces propos, firent leur accord et, en regardant le lieu le plus propre pour faire cette belle œuvre, elle va dire qu’elle n’en savait point de meilleure ni plus loin de tout soupçon, qu’une petite maison qui était dedans le parc, où il y avait chambre et lit tout à propos. (Marguerite de Navarre, L’Heptaméron) The future value took over so much so that Damourette & Pichon (1911-1936 :117) claimed the past value had disappeared»: Un second tour, encore plus aberrant, n’a plus, que nous sachions, aucune position en pays d’Oui. Nous voulons parler de l’expression d’un passé au moyen de l’auxiliaire aller, suivi de l’infinitif. Ce tour a eu une grande fortune dans le provençal ancien et le catalan […] En français, on n’en trouve que des traces, notamment du XIVe au XVIe siècles . Ex.:[…] Adoncques s’arrêtèrent le conte et Raimondin soubz un grand arbre ; lors va dire le conte à Raimondin: […]. Et Raimondin va lui dire : Sire, ce qu’il vous plaira. That allegedly extinct use is nonetheless alive and kicking in Contemporary French. Larreya (2005:349)notes that it is « très courant dans les récits – en particulier dans les récits oraux» and it is also found in newspaper language as shown by this except from an obituary for Loulou Gasté (Le Monde 1995): (2) Celle-ci se déroule aux Editions Micro, où il a un bureau. Séduit par la jeune interprète, il commence à lui écrire des chansons sur mesure et leur complicité va mettre cinq ans à se transformer en amour. Au début de leur rencontre, Loulou est neurasthénique parce qu’il vient de divorcer et la future Line, exclusivement préoccupée par son métier, ne songe à rien d’autre. Line et Loulou vont rattraper le temps perdu et créer ensemble un millier de petites chansons dont la plupart sont devenues immortelles. Jusqu’à ces derniers mois, il ne va pas se passer une journée sans que Loulou s’empare de sa guitare pour créer un refrain. Would we be witnessing a linguistic resurrection? The same structure seems therefore to have grammaticalised in diverging and even diametrically opposite ways in different Romance languages. In this talk, we shall try to explain how the phrase aller + infinitive is able to function both as a future and a past. We will especially concentrate on the case of contemporary French where, while the future interpretation has obtained the status of tense as futur proche or périphrastique, a past interpretation is now commonplace. Our reflection will be supported by a personal corpus of authentic examples.

Corporate environmental responsibility and accountability:what chance in vulnerable Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has recently been enjoying significant economic growth mainly arising from an export led development strategy. However, in that process its natural environment has been degraded and become more vulnerable in geophysical terms (e.g. environmental pollution). Much of the Bangladeshi population are also vulnerable in socio-economic terms due primarily to widespread poverty. In this context we ask, albeit sceptically, whether there is any chance of holding corporations to account for their environmental responsibilities. Using the notions of vulnerability and ecological rifts we answer this question by providing evidence from published sources and a series of 32 semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi stakeholder groups. Key findings include, inter alia, corporate reluctance to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their activities. Our interviewees discuss the possibility of a role for mandatory corporate reporting in enhancing corporate accountability and we argue that this is essential if the contradictions and irrationalities of the globalized capitalist system are to be made visible. Achieving such accountability, however, will not be easy due to a lack of political will and the prohibitive costs involved. Incurring such costs could raise the dangerous prospect of Bangladesh losing business to other, less regulated, economies.

Political parties and trade unions in the post-communist Poland:class politics that have never a chance to happen

Trade unions in Poland have not built the stable and long-term relations with political parties as are observed in Western democracies. By analysing the historical and symbolic background of the transformation to a democratic civil society and free market economy, political preferences of working class, trade union membership rates, and public opinion polls, we argue that, in case of Poland, the initial links between political parties and trade unions weakened over time. Polish trade unions never had a chance to become a long-term intermediary between society and political parties, making the Polish case study a double exception from the traditional models.