Introduction
Suzan is a local traffic warden. Her duty as a warden involves the issuance of packing tickets to motorists in her geographical area of work. Her area of jurisdiction happens to cover the location of Duncan’s shop. The activities in Duncan’s shop involve delivery of commodities by his suppliers. There are, however, illegal cars parking behind the shop that hinders the delivery process into the shop. For this reason, Duncan approached Suzan and asked her to help him solve the problem of the people packing cars awkwardly.
In their agreement, Duncan promised to pay Suzan £ 20 per week while Suzan was to make an extra effort and ensure that car owners who parked behind Duncan’s shop were given packing tickets. Suzan honoured her part of the agreement but Duncan refused to pay her after one month claiming that what Suzan had done was her formal responsibility as per her contract with the local traffic authority.
Rule of Law
There is a need to differentiate special duties from ordinary duties. When a person is carrying out duties which are considered normal no extra payment should be made to such individuals but in the case that extra duties beyond what can be viewed as normal duties are carried out then there is a need for an extra payment. This is well illustrated in the case of Harris v Sheffield United Football Club Ltd. [1988] (Harris, 2007, p. 357). Organizing a soccer match is a private activity in as much as it involves the public. The football club is entitled to ensure that the activity they are organizing goes on safely without causing any damage to the public or private property.
They lack this ability and therefore will have to make use of the police services (Markesinis, 1997, p. 226). Arrangements have to be made for police officers to oversee that the soccer activities are carried out safely. It is significant to note that this is not part of what can be termed as their normal duties since the activity is organized privately. In as much as the police were providing security to the public a duty which they ought to carry, it should be considered that they were carrying it out in a private setting. Being a private setting therefore made their services special services which ought to be paid (Halson, 2001, p. 1).
Application
In regard to Susan, she is expected to issue tickets; it is clear that the issuance of tickets is part of her normal duties. It is clear that where the shop is located is part of the area which she is supposed to serve, therefore it is clear that issuing tickets to the cars packing at the shop is her normal duty and does not in any way constitute special duties. It should be noted that by the fact that giving tickets to the cars packing behind the shop will be beneficial, it should not be treated as a special services but in contrast her failure to offer that services is seen to inconvenience the shop activities which, arguably, can be viewed as failure of the county to offer the shop its due services for taxes paid. The parking of the cars cannot be viewed as a private undertaking in circumstances of this case. The shop owner is therefore not obligated to pay Susan as he is utilizing services which he ought to.
Conclusion
Susan is carrying out her duties of ensuring that cars are parked legally. She does this by issuing tickets. By giving out tickets to the cars which are being parked illegally behind shop is just carrying out a pre-existing duty and thus should not be subject to extra payment or nor should it be viewed as a special service. By helping to prevent illegal car parking behind the shop is not helping the shop owner but rather simply ensuring that the cars are parked where they ought to be parked and that is what she is expected to do; ensuring cars are parked where they ought to.
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