Report No. 01

28. Public duties.-

There are, of course, public duties of a State, such as, a duty to provide education but such duties do not give rise to a cause of action as the very foundation of an action for tort is that the right of a private person is infringed by breach of a certain duty. No rights would be created in favour of a private person in respect of public duties.

Incidentally, we may mention that in Italy a distinction is recognised between right (diritto) and legitimate interest (interesse legitimo). In the case of public duties a subject may have an interest but no right, whereas in the case of duties owed to particular persons or class of persons a right is involved. The violation of a public duty does not cause an injury to any person by infringing any right of his and does not constitute a tort. With this background, sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 2 of the Crown Proceedings Act may now be considered.