Occupiers Liability - Trespasser

Question 1

Occupiers liability trespasser- governed by

Answer 1

Occupiers Liability Act (OLA) 1984

Question 2

Occupier- the occupier is the person in control of the premises at the time the harm was suffered

Answer 2

S1(2) OLA 1957

Question 3

Occupier- an occupier has sufficient degree of control over the premises

Answer 3

Wheat v Lacon

Question 4

Premises- a ‘fixed or moveable structure’ can be a premises

Answer 4

S1(3)(a) OLA 1957

Question 5

Premises- see lawful visitor for other structure deemed as premises: e.g Ladder, lift, , vehicle and ship on dry dock.

Answer 5

Ladder- copas v wheeler
Lift- haseldine
Vehicle- Hartwell
Ship in dry dock- Horton

Question 6

Trespasser- an occupier of a premises owes a duty of care to someone who is a trespasser

Answer 6

S1(3) OLA 1984

Question 7

Trespasser- a trespasser is someone who doesn’t have permission to be on the premises and doesn’t fall into one of the lawful visitor groups

Answer 7

S1(2) OLA 1957

Question 8

Trespasser- a trespasser can be someone who has exceeded the permissions granted to them

Answer 8

Tomlinson OR The Calgarth

Question 9

State of the premises- the Cs harm must be caused by the state of the premises or something that has been failed to be done

Answer 9

S1(1) OLA 1984

Question 10

Does the D owe a duty of care- all of the following 3 elements of ………….. has to be satisfied for the D to be liable

Answer 10

S1(3) OLA 1984

Question 11

Does the D owe a duty of care- the occupier is aware of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists

Answer 11

S1(3)(a) OLA 1984

Question 12

Does the D owe a duty of care- the occupier knows or has reasonable grounds to believe a trespasser is in or may come into the vicinity of the danger

Answer 12

S1(3)(b) OLA 1984

Question 13

Does the D owe a duty of care- the risk is one which against in all circumstances the occupier may be reasonably expected to offer protection

Answer 13

S1(3)(c) OLA 1984

Question 14

Type of duty of care- the D is required to take reasonable steps to keep the C reasonable safe

Answer 14

S1(4) OLA 1984

Question 15

Type of duty of care- nature of the premises; if highly dangerous situation and the occupier had taken reasonable care to stop trespassers being injured then the duty of care was not breached

Answer 15

Ratcliff v McConnell

Question 16

Type of duty of care- degree of danger; if an obvious risk the occupier is not required to take reasonable care to protect a trespasser as they should guard against it themself

Answer 16

Ratcliff v McConnell

Question 17

Type of duty of care- degree of danger; a trespasser is not expected to engage in foolhardy activities

Answer 17

Donoghue

Question 18

Type of duty of care- age of the trespasser; rules that apply to an adult also apply the same to children

Answer 18

Keown

Question 19

Type of duty of care- practicality of precautions; the occupier is required to provide reasonable precautions e.g warning signs

Answer 19

Tomlinson

Question 20

Warning signs- the duty may be discharged by giving a warning or discouraging others from taking the risk, it must be an effective warning

Answer 20

S1(5) OLA 1984

Question 21

Warning signs- if the trespasser was a child the warning would have to be appropriate for a child of the same/similar age

Answer 21

Westwood

Question 22

Conclusion- view defences and remedies as well as past paragraphs found in books

Answer 22

^^^^^^^^^^