Junior Books Ltd v Veitchi Co Ltd [1983] 1 AC 520 was a House of Lords judgment on whether a duty of care in delict exists between a contractor or sub-contractor and an employer.
[1] This Scottish case initially caused some excitement amongst English academic lawyers who thought it heralded the fusion of contract and tort into a single "law of obligations".
Although textbooks were written with such a title,[2] the idea did not generally catch on, and Junior Books has since become "a very distinguished case".
The House of Lords ruled that there was a sufficient degree of proximity between the parties to allow Junior Books to sue in delict.
The decision was not followed by the House of Lords in D & F Estates Ltd v Church Commissioners for England [1989] AC 177, where Junior Books was described as a "unique" case which could not be regarded as laying down any principle of general application.