Illegality (‘ex turpi causa non oritur actio’) - Tort Law

This defence, under the common law in relation to the principles associated with the concept of tort, is fundamentally founded upon the doctrine of ‘ex turpi causa non oritur actio’, meaning in Latin ‘from a dishonorable cause an action does not arise’, recognises an action may not be founded on any element of illegality and has been found to be most commonly relevant to issues of contract.

Nevertheless, in tort, it has become particularly relevant to, for example, those cases where one criminal would seek to bring a claim against another criminal because, according to Lord Asquith in National Coal Board v. England [1954] AC 403, it has been recognised that, “If two burglars, Alice and Bob, agree to open a safe by means of explosives, and Alice so negligently handles the explosive charge as to injure Bob, Bob might find some difficulty in maintaining an action against Alice”. But it cannot be considered to be absolute, according to Revill v. Newberry [1996] 1 All ER 291, or certain, supported by the decision in Pitts v. Hunt [1990] 3 All ER 344.

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