S2 - Intro to Tort Law Flashcards
what is a tort
a civil wrong
why is tort law differnt from contract law
contract law is to do with contracts between 2 parties going wrong
whereas
tort law is all about obligations imposed on us that aren’t voluntary
what does tort law concern
imposed responsibilities and rights we have simply by being people
in tort law what havent we chose unlike a contracts
rights and responsibilities we got to adhere to
tort law fundamentally about
not doing harm to others and taking reasonable care to not do others harm that can be foreseen
tort law covers situations such as (looking for 5 here)
driving dangerously and knock someone over - caused harm by not taking enough care
famous actrot libelled by a newspaper
employee injured at work
land owner who has had a trespasser on his land
patient injured by a negligient doctor
why si a famus perosn being libelled by a newspaper under tort
damages character by saying somethign that ot true so does harm to a perosn
harm is not always physical it can be
financial
where does tortious liability arise from and how is it resolved
breach of duty imposed by law
an action for unliquidated damages
to breach means
break ones obligation
damages =
copmensation/money
tortfeasor
one who commits tor
whats gthe aim of tort famages
so as far as possible , place injured part into positonn (financially) they would be if the tort had never been comitted
the common law remedy as of rught to the successful party
tortious
having the nature of a tort
whats the limit to bring claim for damages for personal injury
3 years
whats the limit to bring claim for damages for all other tort
6 years
which kind of claim have no formla limits but delay defeats equity
equitable remedies
delay: in sense you waited some time before you diborught it to court
fundamnetally ehat is tort law about
taking reasonable care not to do others harm that can be forseen
outcome in tort law is similar to contract law in the sense that you want …..
damages for your troubl
how are tort damages different from contractual damages
considers future performance that should’ve taken place when you lived up to your repsonsibilities that you volunteered for
whereas
in tort law we talking about responsibltiies we didnt volunteer for - damages are calculated to put you back in the position as if nothing bad had happened to you
true or false responsibiltiy isn’t as great as it in contract law
true tort is less serious
give example of damges in tort law if im driving safely and someone comes and knocks off my window
Damages calculated on basis of what wing mirror cost and how much it’s gonna cost you to put you back in time to positio as If tort never been commited
how is peersonal injury as a result of somsoen elses tortious act calculated
based on more ocmplicated algorithim
- But payouts vary massivley - depending on who you are , the real loss you've suffered delviered w good evidence - Can get future loss sometimes e.g. loss of future potential earnings - some incidents of studetns with potential not yet gone out into the world of work - get into some kind of accident tthat incapcitates them significantly reduces their potential when their potential was enormous - But got to have solid evidence clearly indicating the level you were operating at before youre accidnt and the level of incapacity you've suffered and for how lonf
whats teh broad principle for damages in tort law
put you in the position as if the harm hadn’t happened to you
what is unliquidated damages
amount of money that hasn’t been predetermined or precalcualted by some kind of contractual arrangement
- Could almost be limitless - ther are caps - btu all to play for in terms of the particular story - you not bound by any contratual agreeemnents
for personal injury, the exact amount of compensation for pain and suffering might be unliquidated because it depends on various factors like the severity of the injury and its impact on the person’s life.
what law world are we deaing with when we taling about tort law - and therefore what type of remedies do we get
civil world
civil remedies
what are equitable remedies
and whats the catch
those things that arent money that would make sittuationbetter for the injure part y and they’re
allowed to ask for only if acted with clean hands in the proceedings
i.e. if played by the letter of the law , if done what they were supposed to do
give example of equitable remediy if someoen wrote something offensive about you ina newspaper
may want damages but want them to take it down e.g. injuction
injuction/removal is an example of
speciifc performance
what branch of law do both contrract law and tort law sit in
cibil - non criminal
what is criminal law
actions brought by the state intended to regulate and control population and curb delinquent behaviour
as they are both in the civil system what is their standard of proof
balance of probabilities
what is balance of probabilities aain
evidence gots to be 51% strong to win a case minimum
as both in viil wold where does burden of proff lie
on the claimant
person bringing forward the claim
how is crimnal law different form tort i,e in terms of outcome
outcome is potential loss of liberty therefore stakes are higher
in the civil law how can stakes be considered high for someone
e.g 50k for personal injury
but ctiminal law is more dangerous ause peoplee may lose theri
liberty
what is the standard of proff in ctriminal law and why
beyonf reasonable doubt so you are sure
what does beyond reassonable doubt mean
this is more personal - so gots to be sure - can be a likkle bit of unreasonable stuff
in crimnal alw who is burden of proof on
state
why is burden of proof on state in criminal law
we always talking about state v individual
in civil law who is versin who
individual c individual
there can besome overlap in who is purzuing who in crinial law and civil law give an example
driving offence
if someone gets hit and gets broken le - several people will be after the driver
toprt - this person caused me harm thriough -reckless driving - we want compensation so issue a claim for personal injury and loss in civil court
police after her might charge her and put her in jail (state)
in the criminla law who is not going to be assessed well and why
victim
interested in stopping dangerous driver from being a harm to teh public/contorllign perpatrators of crime
state dont exist to compensate victims - this is where tort comes in
tort law is an arena for a victim to
make claim against another individual for some sort of harm and loss
lets say dangerous druiver ase - victim didnt show up - evidence is patchy therefore we cant prove beyond reasonable doubt - has justice been served and what can victim become int the civil world
yes as state can only find people guilty of crimes if we sure it was them
victim in criminal situationbecomes claimiant in civil world and pursues action for her loss maybe w same evidence
lets say in teh case o ddangerous druvuing hte balance of proabbilities was 60% is it enough in the civil woorld - what canviitm be awarded
yes as above 51 %
so victim awarded omepnsation in this scneario
what si negligence
failure to excersise reasonable care, therby causing injury to others or damage to property
to estavlush negligence how many things does claimant have to rpove
3
to establish negligence what 3 things must a claimant prove
defendant owed duty of care to claimant
defendant breached duty of careby failing to conform to the required standard of conduct
defendants breach of duty caused the harm, injury or damage to the claimant
negligence is all about
how careful you supposed to be not to harm other people around you
we obliged to take certain level of care for those around us
we’re obliged to take a certain level of care for those around us - otherwise we commit
negligence
owe duty of care means
you resposnible or somene
e.g other roiad users
doctor to patient
what does a breac require
assessment of what the duty is
e.g how good and careful you have to be as a driver and what do you do when you fall below that standard
when assesing what the duty is the standard is never perfection so what do we think about
what amount of imperfeciton is acceptable
when we say breach of duty ‘caused’ what do we mean
e.g you hadnt already fallen voer
the dangeros driving ‘directly’ caused your injury
what is the key case here
DONOGHUE AND STEVENSON 1932
Before 1932 there was no
general responsibility of one person for another
only in prescirbed set of relationships where people had to look after each other and alw agreed ther was a duty
e.g doctor patient
what is donoghue and stevensopn case
went out for lunch w friend
friend bought her ginger beer
found decomposing snail
suffers shock and gets upset
Donoghue wants to take action for personal injury as maker of drink wasn’t careful enough
whats important her int erms of who bought it
friend bought it so she not customer of cafe so no contractual roots
so no contractual respoinsbiliity not to do her harm
but she saif manufacturer of product should be resoinsbuuke to ultiate consumer
how many times was donoghue’s cliam refused
3 timesi
in what stage of court was her her appeal accepted
house of lotds
donoghue and stevenson resulted int eh
nrigh bour principle
who iestbalished neighbour principle
lord atkinson
what is neighbour principle
you must take reasonable care
to avoid acts or omissions
which you can reasonably foresee
would be likely to injure your neighbout
who is your neigjbbour
person so closely and directly affected by my act
that I ought to reasonably have them in contemplation as being so affected
when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions that are called in question
why is neighbour principle significant
first tim its set out we have a enral responsibblity for our enighbours
blows open tort law
what was a question/concern of this case
wouild it be in public interest to make everyone repsosniblein this way or not
what is negative of everyone being responsible to each other
legal system may collapse under everyone complaining about everything all the time
what did donouhe and stevenson 1932 establis 2 marks
neighbour principle
manufactureer responsible to ultimate consumer of a product (most important point as no longer fot to be paying for somehting to ..?)
