The Gazette 1976

GAZETTE

NE/J

1976

HOTEL PROPRIETORS' LIABILITY IN

IRELAND

By Hugh M. Fitzpatrick, B.C.L., Solicitor

In 1957 a commentator stated that "of the many

anomalous branches of the law at present existing, none

can be more productive of hardship and illogical results

than that which relates to the liability of the inn-

keeper".

The Oireachtas answered the need for reform

early in 1963 by enacting the Hotel Proprietors Act

1963.

This Act codified the law relating to inns and

innkeepers Delany described it as "a comprehensive

code dealing with all aspects of innkeepers' liability".-'

It is on the 1963 Act that this article is based.

The scope of the Act

The liability of hotel proprietors had been considered

previously by the Council of Europe the aim of which is

to achieve closer unity between its Members,

inter alia

by the adoption of common rules in legal matters. The

enactment of the Hotel Proprietors Act 1963 enabled

Ireland, being a Member State of the Council of

Europe, to sign the Convention on the Liability of Hotel-

keepers concerning the Property of their Guests which

had been approved on the 17th December 1962 by the

delegates of the Council of Europe.

The 1963 Act pro-

vides that the hotel proprietor has a duty not only to be

liable for his guests' personal property but also that

be has a duty as to the safety of the person of his

guests and a duty to ensure that the hotel premises are

safe. The Convention, as its title suggests, restricts its

rules to liability in respect of guests' property. In this

respect the Irish Act is more extensive than the English

Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 and the Hotel Proprietors

Act (Northern Ireland), 1958, both of which confine

their provisions to the liability of the hotel proprietor

in respect of the guest's property.

In England common law rules still apply subject to

the provisions of the Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 and the

Innkeepers Act 1878. There is a significant difference of

approach in Ireland. The 1963 Act replaced and codi-

fied the common law of inns and innkeepers and re-

pealed the previous legislation in its entirety.

How-

ever, some of the concepts of the repealed legislation

are retained. Section 2(1) of the 1963 Act provides that

"the duties, liabilities and rights provided for by this

Act shall have effect in place of the duties, liabilities

and rights which heretofore attached by the common

law to innkeepers as such." The statutory duties,

liabilities and rights as set out in the Act replace

those which were imposed by the common law on the

innkeeper "as such" (i.e. as the innkeeper). Therefore,

it would seem that the provisions of the Act do not

relate to the liabilities which a hotel proprietor may

incur in some way other than as a hotel proprietor as,

for example, where a bailment arises. However, a dis-

cussion of such a transaction is outside the scope of this

article.

Definitions

The ancient terms "inn" and "innkeeper" have been

replaced by the words "hotel" and "hotel proprietor".

A hotel is defined by Section 1 of the 1963 Act as

"an establishment which provides or holds itself out as

providing sleeping accommodation, food and drink for

reward for all comers without special contract and

includes everv establishment registered in the register of

hotels kept under Part III of the Tourist Traffic Act,

1939." The definition is not an exhaustive one. It auto-

matically includes every establishment registered as a

hotel with Bord Fáilte. Therefore, a guest at one of these

registered hotels will enjoy the protection of the 1963

Act. However, establishments other than registered

hotels are not excluded from the definition. It was the

ew of the Minister for Justice

that "apart from

registered hotels, the question whether a particular

premises constitutes a hotel for the purposes of the Bill

will be a question of fact in every case."

The Minister

continued and said that "it can be taken, however, that,

in general, guest houses, boarding houses, and similar

establishments do not come within the ambit of the

Bill."

One can assume that establishments which do

not provide sleeping accommodation, such as restaur-

ants, public houses and cafes are outside the definition.

The definition of hotel "proprietor" as set out in

Section 1 is self-explanatory.

The word "guest" is not expressly defined but it can

be implied from Section 3(1) that a guest is a person

who, whether he has made an advance booking or not,

presents himself and requires sleeping accommodation,

food or drink.

Duties of the hotel proprietor

Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the 1963 Act place certain

duties on the hotel proprietor. These can be classified

under three headings :

1. The duty to receive all comers.

2. The duty as to safety of guests and as to safety of

hotel premises.

3. The duty to receive property of guests.

It is intended to examine each duty in turn.

The duty to receive all comers

(Section 3)

A hotel proprietor is bound to receive all persons

whether or not under special contract who present

themselves at his hotel and require sleeping accommo-

dation, food or drink and to provide them therewith

unless he has reasonable grounds for refusal.

At the time the person presents himself at the hotel

the onerous burden of deciding whether a refusal is

reasonable in the circumstances is placed on the pro-

prietor. If the proprietor unreasonably refuses accom-

modation to a person then that person can sue the

proprietor in damages. The proprietor (apart from civil

liability) could also be convicted (summarily) of a

criminal offence if he is in breach of his duty under

Section 3. The penalty for such an offence is a fine

not exceeding £100.

Since the Act came into operation there have been

no judicial guidelines as to what defences are open to

a hotel proprietor. According to the Minister for Justice

"the interpretation of what are reasonable grounds will

be a matter to be determined by the Court in relation

to any particular instance."

A proprietor would surely

have good reason for refusal if a person who presents

himself at the hotel is drunk or if all the bedrooms in

the hotel are occupied.

The proprietor must provide sleeping accommodation,

food or drink at the charges for the time being current

at the hotel. This duty is "subject to the terms of anv

special contract" so that the statutory provision does

not interfere with the right of a guest to make an

arrangement in advance with the proprietor to provide

the guest with sleeping accommodation, food or drink

at special prices.