The Scottish cabinet has agreed to introduce a Bill, which will reverse the House of Lord’s judgment (Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd) and enable those diagnosed with symptomless pleural plaques to continue to be able to raise and pursue actions for damages in Scotland.

It is hoped that this development, along with ongoing work from English parliamentarians, may help to persuade the Government in Westminster that steps need to be taken to ensure that people with pleural plaques receive proper redress.  The issue was debated during the report/third reading stage of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill in early December and we are hoping that an adjournment debate on the issue can be arranged early in the new year.

In the meantime, it is now more important than ever that people suffering with symptomless pleural plaques are encouraged to explain the devastating effect of the judgment to their own constituency MP’s.  Such clients are asked, therefore, to encourage direct contact between plaques victims and their MP’s.

The Scottish Government is currently considering what the earliest opportunity is for the Bill to be placed into the legislative programme.  For more details on the announcement go to http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/11/29102156

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a specialist legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

Ruth Davies
Partner at John Pickering and Partners LLP

20 Clare Road, Halifax, HX1 2HX

Email: rd@johnpickering.co.uk

Tele: 01422 345535

Fax: 01422 438500