The Human Rights Act has taken on a lot of criticism by conservatives who maintain that is has grown "out of proportion" and had aided in the influx of compensation cases, and, what some call "the Compensation Culture."

Advocates of compensation disagree and maintain that compensation is a last resort, often the only way to force authorities to be responsible.

BBC New Online interviewed one teacher who won £22,000 but said she had pursued compensation in an effort to save her livelihood.

"After being a teacher for 30 years I had an accident lifting a computer that I had taken home to repair. I had four months off. I recovered, didn't complain in any way."

"In 2001 I was ordered to move heavy boxes of equipment by the head. I protested. I said I wasn't happy doing this. I did it and ended up with terrible sciatica."

Again, she mentioned nothing, but took action when she became convinced the school was trying to oust her because of her missed time due to her injuries.

"It was purely to keep my job that I took action. I would have been got rid of otherwise. It now looks as if I'm going to leave teaching three-and-a-half years early."

"It's not easy to get compensation. Right to the last I had the chance I would lose everything, my reputation, everything. It has been three years of horrendous stress."

Another motivation, she admits, was to strike a larger blow for health and safety standards at her school, which, she maintains, have not changed.

"People are still lifting heavy boxes at the school. It is always cost cutting."

Tom Jones, a partner at the leading personal injury law firm Thompsons asserts that the image of a compensation culture is false.

"It is a very clever campaign by the insurance companies to wind people up. It is about them seeking people to question the legitimacy of people claiming at all, and attacking the levels of compensation. "

"If you are the insurance company doesn't it serve you for everybody to say 'no wonder we have higher premiums'?"

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary disagrees. He cites a teacher who won £55,000 slipping on a chip and the parents of a Girl Guide who sued after she burnt herself on a sausage as prime examples of the compensation culture.

Mr Jones, however, argues that at issue are larger principles and little risk since losing attorneys foot the bill. "You only pursue a claim if you can prove the other side failed to take reasonable care, and, as a result of that, you were injured. If there is a frivolous claim, fight it."

The Association of British Insurers plays down suggestions of a cultural mindset, but admits that there was a problem.

"The number of people who claim is going down, but that isn't to say that the cost isn't increasing. With liability insurance, the average cost of settling has gone up threefold."