Occupiers Liability Flashcards
What is an occupier + Case
Someone that has a sufficient degree of control over a premises.
- Wheat v Lacon.
What are premises
A fixed or moveable structure.
- Defined under s.1(3)(a) 1957 act.
What is a lawful visitor
Someone who has permission to enter a premises.
What are the two types of permission
- Express- Where the occupier specifically invites the entrant onto their property for a particular reason.
- Implied.
Types of implied permission- Repeated Visits + Case
- If the occupier knows, or should know that people are continuously visiting the land and does nothing about it, the permission may be implied.
- Lowery v Walker.
Types of implied permission- The Doctrine of allurement + Case
- A child will not be a trespasser if it wanders on to the land to investigate something which is both dangerous and attractive to children.
- Jolly v Sutton.
Types of implied permission- Statutory powers of entry
- There are large numbers of circumstances when a person is authorised by statutory power to enter a premises .e.g. postman.
Defences to occupiers liability act 1957- Warnings + Case
- Provides that the occupier is discharged from liability if he/she gives effective warning of the danger. This warning must be sufficient to enable that the visitor is reasonably safe. In some circumstances, a mere warning may be insufficient to discharge the liability.
- Woollins v British Celanese.
Defences to occupiers liability act 1957- Contributory Negligence
- Under the Law Reform (contributory negligence) Act 1945, damages are reduced according to the claimant’s responsibility for the damage suffered.
Defences to occupies liability act 1957- Consent + Case
- If you voluntarily take part in a potentially hazardous activity, then you are consenting to the risk that the activity carries. No duty is owed by an occupier to any person in respect of risks willingly accepted by that person.
- Simms v Leigh Rugby.
What is a trespasser- OLA 84
A person who enters a premises without permission.
What are the three ways someone becomes a trespasser
- A person who enters a premises without an invitation where either their presence is unknown to the occupier.
- A person who exceeds the limits of their permission- Geary v Wetherspoon.
- If known is objected to in some actual practical fashion.
When would an occupier owe a duty of care to a trespasser
- Defendant is aware of the existing danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists.
- The risk is one which the defendant may be expected to offer some protection.
- Defendant knows or has reasonable grounds that claimant is in the vicinity of the danger.
Defences to occupiers liability act 1984- Warnings
- s.1(5) states that the occupier may discharge his or her duty by taking such steps as are reasonable in all circumstances of the case to give warning of the danger concerned or to discourage persons from incurring the risk. Therefore, the warning required is not the same as that under the OLA 1957, the level of warning is lower.
- Section 1 (5)
Defences of the occupiers liability act 1984- Contributory Negligence
- Under the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, damages are reduced according to the claimant’s responsibility for the damage suffered.
- Law Reform Act 1945.
Defences to occupiers liability act 1984- Consent
- S1(6) provides that ‘no duty is owed to a person in respect of risks which he willingly accepts as his’.
- Ratcliff v McConnell.
