Did Socrates actually die after ingesting that hemlock? Try Socrates v. the Republic of Greece and Olympus Bigpharm Ltd., resolution of the Historic Excessive Court docket of Southern Athens, little doubt not too long ago found by anthropologist legal professionals.
Ouzo J.: That is an motion by the plaintiff for damages arising out of the consumption by him of hemlock served by the defendant, the Republic of Greece (the Republic) and manufactured by the defendant Olympus Bigpharm Ltd. (Bigpharm).
The information are easy.
The plaintiff is a distinguished thinker. Two years in the past, he was charged with corrupting the younger in contravention of Part 1321 of the Legal Code, which reads: “Any one that knowingly corrupts the younger is responsible of: (i) a felonious offense and shall be sentenced to dying; or (ii) A misdemeanor offense.”
The prosecution proceeded by the use of felony, and the plaintiff was convicted and sentenced to dying. He determined to not attraction after reviewing the matter fastidiously with the general public defender.
The execution was to have taken place within the plaintiff’s cell, the place he was to drink two tablespoons of hemlock. Simply previous to his execution, the plaintiff was requested by the jailer, one Zeno the Elder, whether or not he had any final requests. The plaintiff, somewhat perturbed at this stage, mentioned, “I may certain use drink.” The jailer thereupon gave him a small flask of Metaxa brandy, which the plaintiff swiftly gulped down. The plaintiff then mentioned that he was all set, so Zeno the Youthful, the jailer’s son, proceeded to pour the hemlock manufactured by Bigpharm right into a goblet. The plaintiff drank the hemlock, and he was anticipated to die immediately. However he didn’t die. As an alternative, he developed a sudden and extreme pores and skin rash throughout his physique.
The Zenos had been astonished. The authorities had been baffled, fearing this to be an omen from the gods, and so they instantly launched the plaintiff. The pores and skin rash continued, and the plaintiff despatched a letter to Bigpharm complaining about this facet impact. The defendant promptly replied as follows (Exhibit 5):
Pricey Sir,
Thanks for bringing this matter to our consideration. As you realize, all our merchandise are subjected to stringent measures of high quality management. We’ve got examined the pattern despatched to us by the Republic, and we should say that we now have discovered nothing mistaken with it. As a gesture of fine religion, nevertheless, we’re sending you underneath separate cowl, with our compliments, a case of Bigpharm hemlock.
Sincerely,
Xenoppedopolous
(Pronounced Xenoppedopolous)
Public Relations
The plaintiff subsequently commenced this swimsuit.
Legal responsibility
Bigpharm argues that the plaintiff’s damages are unforeseeable and distant. Proof was led that Bigpharm has been the purveyor of hemlock to the Republic for over 100 years, and that there by no means have been any complaints, apart from some remoted complaints concerning the product having an aftertaste.
Counsel means that the plaintiff survived the hemlock solely because of a physiological idiosyncrasy. This argument doesn’t maintain water. It’s well-established in regulation {that a} tortfeasor takes his sufferer as he finds him. The defendant clearly owes an obligation to its potential customers to unequivocally warn them of doable uncomfortable side effects in the event that they eat the product. I discover that on this case, the defendant didn’t go far sufficient merely by affixing a label on the bottle bearing the inscription “Shake Nicely Earlier than Utilizing.” The courtroom makes a discovering of negligence in opposition to this defendant.
Specializing in the problem of legal responsibility of the Republic, the plaintiff argues that the Republic was negligent in the best way it carried out its abortive execution. He says that he relied upon the representations of the defendant that the hemlock would knock him out with the pace of Hermes. Had he recognized in any other case, he would have requested for an additional type of execution, maybe to be thrown right into a wrestling ring with two Spartan ladies.
The Republic argues that the plaintiff undertook a voluntary assumption of threat. Counsel has tried to steer the courtroom that the pores and skin rash resulted from a chemical change within the plaintiff’s physique as a consequence of the interplay of the hemlock with the Metaxa, which was requested the plaintiff. The Republic tried to file as proof of this proposition a report of its deputy soothsayer containing his findings and conclusions of his examination of a calf’s entrails. On the objections of counsel for the plaintiff, the courtroom didn’t admit this proof because the defendant uncared for to serve a replica of this report not less than seven days earlier than the trial. The provisions of the Proof Act regarding the opinions of specialists together with physicians, toxicologists and soothsayers are clear on this level.
I’ve no hesitation in holding that the Republic was additionally negligent.
This leads the courtroom to adjudicate upon the declare over the Republic has instituted in opposition to Bigpharm. The Republic depends on the provisions of Part 15(2) of the Sale of Items Act and claims that the hemlock bought to it by Bigpharm was not merchantable.
Part 15(2) reads: “2) The place items are purchased by description from a vendor who offers in items of that description there’s an implied situation that the products might be of merchantable high quality, but when the customer has examined the products, there isn’t a implied situation as regards the results that such examination must have revealed.”
Bigpharm argues that the Republic in actual fact examined the hemlock prior to buy, in {that a} consultant of the Republic, one Pappanodekolis (pronounced Pappanodekolis) attended on the Bigpharm plant earlier than ordering the hemlock in query. He adopted the standard apply and introduced together with him three slaves to pattern the product. He testified that two of the slaves overpowered him and fled minutes earlier than they had been to have tasted the hemlock. The third slave did certainly pattern the hemlock. Mr. Pappanodekolis must have realized on the time that there was one thing mistaken with the hemlock when the slave, as an alternative of dropping down, delusionally requested, “Is that this the Pepsi?”
The courtroom finds that the exclusionary provision of part 15 applies and the declare over is dismissed. I apportion legal responsibility to the plaintiff equally between the 2 defendants.
Damages
We now flip to damages. The plaintiff’s dermatitis (pronounced dermatitis) prevented him from resuming his duties as a thinker within the market for over 18 months. This resulted in a lack of earnings of about 9,000 drachma. The courtroom accepts this quantity for out-of-pocket loss.
As for basic damages for ache and struggling, the dermatitis is throughout his physique. The evaluation right here is tougher, as all of the physicians in Greece have been afraid to look at the plaintiff for concern of contracting his rash. The plaintiff testified that even when he confronted Dr. Hippocrates, the great physician replied, “What oath?”
I’ve thought of this matter fastidiously, and in view of the gravity of the dermatitis, the profound impact it has had upon the plaintiff’s private and social life, and moreover, in view of the truth that insurance coverage corporations might be paying for all of this, I assess basic damages at 20,000 drachma. I additionally award 100,000 drachma for punitive damages as a basic deterrent.
Judgment accordingly.
Marcel Strigberger, after 40-plus years of training civil litigation within the Toronto space, closed his regulation workplace and determined to proceed his humor writing and talking passions. His newest e book is First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Legal professional’s Irreverent Severe Have a look at the Authorized Universe. Go to MarcelsHumour.com, and observe him at @MarcelsHumour on X, previously often known as Twitter.
