Chapter 2 - Law Of Torts LO2 Flashcards
Unliquidated / Unspecified damages
Amount of damages is not fixed in advanced and will be decided by courts
Actionable per se
Claimant does not have to prove they have suffered loss or damage - only that tor has been committed
Strict liabilities
Rylands vs Fletcher (1886)
person may be held liable if action is neither intentional or negligent
when defendant is liable for committing an action
Trespass characteristics(3)
Act of defendant must be direct
Act must be intentional
Tort is actionable per se
Types of trespass to person (3)
Assault - Threatening gestures
Battery - Hostile application or physical force
False imprisonment - Bodily restraint
what is Trespass to goods
Directly and intentionally interferes with goods
What is trespass to land (3)
- Unlawful entry onto another persons land
- Remaining on the land
- Placing or throwing things onto the land
Must be intentional
Actionable per se
Negligence (3)
- Duty of care owed by the defendant to the claimant
- A breach of that duty by the defendant
- Damage suffered by the claimant as a result of the negligent act
Neighbour principal / reasonable foreseeability
Duty of care owed to another person if it is reasonably foreseeable that they will be affected by one’ acts or omission
Breach of duty
Fails to do what a reasonable man would do
Original test for remoteness
Purely on causation
Defendant liable for injury directly caused by negligence
Overseas Tankship vs Mort’s Dock and Engineering (The wagon Mound)
Thin skull / eggshell skull. Damages are not reasonably foreseeable
The wagon Mound
New test based on foreseeability - Damage would be too remote if it was not reasonably foreseeable
Negligent Misstatement - Hedley Byrne v Heller
Before this case there was no liability in tort for negligent words, advice only for acts
Wheb dies liability arise under Hedley vs Burn
Liability arises when:
- special relationship between parties (but not contract)
- Giver of advice can reasonably foresee that advice will be acted on and cause damage if inaccurate
- advice is, in fact, acted upon, causing the loss
Public Nuisance
Annoyance to the public
Private Nuisance
Noxious things to escape and interfere with claimants land
Interfering with rights of claimants land
Defence against strict liability
Consent of claimant
Act of god
Unexpected act of a stranger
Statutory authority
Employers Liability
Duty at common law therefore not strict but duty to take reasonable care for safety of employees
Health and Safety at Work (1974)
Takes common law of the duties of employer and makes the subject to criminal law
Vicarious Liability
When one person is liable for another persons wrong
OLA 1957
Common duty of care to all visitors present on the land of another
OLA 1984 - UPDATED
Principal established in Herrington case extends duty of care to trespassers and other uninvited entrants
Liability of defective producs
if victim was buyer of the good they can sue the seller
If victim not buyer then action in tort based on negligence or under the Consumer protection Act 1987
