The hotel industry being a huge part of the hospitality industry has flooded with customer and is a major contributor to the economy of the United States offering a revenue generation of over $ 200 billion in 2018. It has been on a constant growing trend that is expected to continue even in the coming years thanks to the huge number of multi-billion companies taking on this industry all over the globe. The government has taken initiatives to govern and protect the customer and the business owners through various laws and rights accorded to them. This paper looks into the rights and liabilities of innkeepers under the Common Law. It also describes the origin of the Common Law and how it has developed over the years. The laws change every now and then in pursuit of better conditions and efforts to grasp the modern social needs.
The liability laws of innkeeper begun in the middle ages around the ruling of the Roman Laws by English courts. During those times, it was the responsibility of the innkeeper to offer accommodation and protection of property carried by the client. These doctrines have been maintained since ages even though there are few changes under the modern statutes. Under the Common Law, it is the responsibility of the innkeeper to take proper care of the effects of the guest and is responsible for any losses or injury caused by the innkeeper, his or her servants or those caused by other people that are present and are under the responsibility of the innkeeper ( Othman, 2019 ). This rule was developed in order to protect the travelers from nefarious actions of some innkeepers. However, it should be known that defaults caused by the guests themselves or brought about by their negligence are not liable by the innkeepers.
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Common laws begun as early as the middle ages and are describe to contain customs, rules, principles and usages that since time immemorial have gained universal perception and have guided courts in making judicial decisions ( Merryman, 2018 ). These laws are found in the reports of court decisions and court records. The common law has evolved overtime to meet American needs since independence from the British to accommodate the largely expanding country. These changes were carried out through legislations and judicial decisions. The common laws changed due to the court’s role as lawmaker through the aspects of review of constitutionality of a legislation, interpretation of the Constitution and reformation and reviewing of the Common Law.
A good example of the common law is their duty to receive and accommodate any traveler at all hours of the day or night with the accompaniment of his or her belongings if there is space unless there is reasonable ground to deny them these service ( Tait, 2017 ). The innkeepers are liable to criminal changes in case of breach of this law. This law is coupled with the protection of guest property and liability to any damages other than in occasions of loss due to an act of God such as earthquakes and hurricanes, negligence by the owners themselves or through the acts of enemies of state such as terrorists.
Throughout time, the rights and liabilities of the innkeepers has changed and evolved to bring forth the success that has seen the rise of these industry. The purpose of these changes is to try and get as close as possible to common social needs and modern conditions. Most of these changes have been documented on statutes and legislations while most of the common laws still remain unwritten though they are an integral guide and a reference during judicial decisions now and in the future.
References
Merryman, J. H., & Pérez-Perdomo, R. (2018). The civil law tradition: an introduction to the legal systems of Europe and Latin America . Stanford University Press.
Othman, Y., Mustafa, M. S. A., Mahat, I. R., Joni, E. K. E., & Marmaya, N. H. (2019). Difficulties in Conforming to the Common Law Duties of Innkeepers and the Innkeepers Act 1952 Among Hoteliers in Melaka. In Proceedings of the Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2016) (pp. 467-476). Springer, Singapore.
Tait, M. (2017). The Consumer Protection Act and the innkeeper’s liability for the property of the guest. Obiter , 38 (3), 641-654.
