The law relating to a previously obscure tort, misfeasance in public office, is under development. Unusually, it is also becoming a matter of considerable interest outside legal circles, since it is a new front in the often fractious relationship between politics and the law.
Current interest in this country is focused on the start of the trial of the epic BCCI-related litigation Three Rivers District Council v Bank of England, which sees thousands of former BCCI customers claiming compensation for the alleged failures of the regulator in question. While that trial will keep a large number of practitioners busy for at least a year, and could see the Government facing a compensation bill of £1bn, it should also be noted that an even larger misfeasance in public office claim was launched last month in respect of the demise in October 2001 of Railtrack.
