What is the law on liability for injuries sustained by a spectator at a hockey game?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Wilson v. Haddock, 1999 BCCA 552 (CanLII):

In his reasons for judgment the trial judge in referring to "the law" referred to the case of Plumb v. Cowichan School District No. 65 [1995] B.C.J. No. 3709, a judgment of Mr. Justice Braidwood as he then was. This is the reference to that judgment: Having considered the above authorities, some of them involving the issue of liability between members who are actually playing and some involving the question of liability between a player and a spectator, the test can be stated as follows: Was the standard of conduct of the participant, as accepted and expected by the spectator, that which the sport permitted and involved? A person attending a game or competition takes the risk of any damage caused to him by any act of a participant done in the course of and for the purpose of the game or competition, notwithstanding that such act might involve an error of judgment or lapse of skill, unless the participant's conduct was such as to evidence a reckless disregard of the spectator's safety or was deliberately intended to injure someone whose presence was known so that it was a departure from the standards which might reasonably be expected in anyone pursuing the competition or gain. The judge, having referred to this reference, then said this:

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