Man on the Clapham omnibus explained

The man on the Clapham omnibus is a hypothetical ordinary and reasonable person, used by the courts in English law where it is necessary to decide whether a party has acted as a reasonable person would – for example, in a civil action for negligence. The character is a reasonably educated, intelligent but nondescript person, against whom the defendant's conduct can be measured.

The term was introduced into English law during the Victorian era, and is still an important concept in British law. It is also used in other Commonwealth common law jurisdictions, sometimes with suitable modifications to the phrase as an aid to local comprehension. The route of the original "Clapham omnibus" is unknown but London Buses route 88 was briefly branded as "the Clapham Omnibus" in the 1990s and is sometimes associated with the term.^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

The phrase was reportedly first put to legal use in a judgment by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the English Court of Appeal libel case McQuire v. Western Morning News (1903).^[4] He attributed the phrase to Lord Bowen and used it in a negative sense:

It may be derived from the phrase "Public opinion ... is the opinion of the bald-headed man at the back of the omnibus", a description by the 19th-century journalist Walter Bagehot of a normal London man. Clapham, in South London, was at the time a nondescript commuter suburb seen to represent "ordinary" London, and in the 19th century would have been served by horse-drawn omnibuses.

Lord Justice Greer used the phrase in Hall v. Brooklands Auto-Racing Club (1933)^[5] to define the standard of care a defendant must live up to in order to avoid being found negligent.

The use of the phrase was reviewed by the UK Supreme Court in Healthcare at Home Limited v. The Common Services Agency (2014),^[6] where Lord Reed said:

Other related common law jurisdictions

The expression has also been incorporated in Canadian patent jurisprudence, notably Beloit v. Valmet Oy^[7] in its discussion of the test for obviousness.

In Australia, the "Clapham omnibus" expression has inspired the New South Wales and Victorian equivalents, "the man on the Bondi tram" (a now disused tram route in Sydney), "the man on the Bourke Street tram" (Melbourne),^[8] and "the ordinary person on the Belconnen omnibus" (Canberra).^[9]

In Hong Kong, the equivalent expression is "the man on the Shau Kei Wan tram".

See also

• A moron in a hurry
• Bellwether
• Person having ordinary skill in the art
• Placeholder name
• Prudent man rule
• Objective historian
• Pub test

Notes and References

1. Book: Time out London guide . Penguin Books . 1995 . 103 . The 88 bus, recently and rather self-consciously styled "The Clapham Omnibus", starts its pleasantly circuitous route from here, to points north of the River..
2. Paul Rainford on bus branding . Rainford, Paul . Design . 1993 . 533 . 43 . The Clapham Omnibus is the shape of things to come. Run by London General (an LT company) on route 88 between Clapham Common and Oxford Circus, this single- decker, Wigan- built Volvo B10B model sports its own jaunty graphics, designed by the Best Impressions consultancy.
3. Book: A Cost Too Far? . Civitas . Milne, Ian . 2004 . 24 . 9781903386378 . bus seats on the number 88 London bus — the Clapham omnibus — are made in Australia.
4. McQuire v Western Morning News [1903] 2 100 at 109 per Collins MR.
5. Hall v Brooklands Auto-Racing Club [1933] 1 205.
6. Healthcare at Home Limited v. The Common Services Agency . 2014 . UKSC . 49 . [1]-[4].
7. Beloit v. Valmet Oy (1986), C.P.R. (3d) 289
8. Re Sortirios Pandos and Commonwealth of Australia. .
9. Web site: 15 April 2024 . Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Trial Judgment) [2024] FCA 369, [597] ]. 16 April 2024 . Austlii.