Tort Flashcards
What must one prove for negligence?
Duty of Care
Breach
Causation
Remoteness
To determine duty of care (after no precedent found), what test is applied?
- Foreseeability of harm: must have been reasonably foreseeable that D’s lack of care would cause harm
- Proximity: relationship of sufficient proximity between D & C
- Fair, Just & Reasonable to impose duty
What policy considerations are considered when determining what is ‘fair, just and reasonable’ for DoC?
Floodgates
Insurance (more likely to be liable if D is insured or should have been)
Crushing liability
Deterrence
Maintenance of high standards
Defensive practice
What is the general position on duty of care for omissions?
No such duty is imposed on failure to act
(But would go through precedent & 3-stage test)
What exceptions are there on the general rule for DoC for omissions?
Statutory duty
Contractual duty
Sufficient control over claimant
Assume responsibility for claimant
Defendant creates the risk
What precedents are there for DoC for ambulance, fire brigade and police?
Ambulance: to respond to a 999 call, within a reasonable time
Fire Brigade: no DoC to attend fire, but if they do, owe duty to not make situation worse than positive act
Police: NO duty to respond to emergency calls - duty to public to prevent them for reasonably foreseeable injury when arresting
What is the general rule for DoC for 3rd parties?
No liability imposed on someone for failure to prevent a 3rd party from causing harm
What exceptions are there for general rule for DoC for the 3rd parties?
Sufficient proximity between D & C
Sufficient proximity between D & 3rd party
D created danger
Risk on D’s premises
What is the position on public bodies owing a DoC?
May owe duty where principles applicable to private individuals would
Very hard to argue for omissions
Must consider policy considerations
What are the 2 stages for considering whether D has breached DoC?
- Standard of Care
- Has D fallen below standard of care?
What is the position on ‘standard of care’?
That of a reasonably competent person
Professionals: standard of a reasonable professional, focusing on act, not actor (standard not lowered/raised for experience)
For professionals, apply Bolam test: not in breach where they’ve acted in accordance w/ practice accepted by responsible body skilled in that field
When is the Bolam test not applied for professionals?
For medical professionals who failed to advise a patient properly of material risks - must make patient aware of material risks & any reasonable alternative treatments (particularly ones they’d attach significance to)
How does illness/disability affect standard of care imposed?
When they’re aware of impairment, should act accordingly - failure to do so, may mean they’re negligent
If they had no idea before act, SoC adjusted
What factors are considered when determining if the D fell below the SoC?
Likelihood of harm
Magnitude of harm
Practicality of precautions
Benefit of D’s conduct
Common practice (court can rule the common practice itself is negligent)
‘State of the art’ defence: assess D’s knowledge against that of profession
Sport
How does the ‘state of the art’ defence work under breach?
Unforeseeable risks can’t be anticipated so failing to guard against them won’t be negligence
How does sport work as a factor considered under breach?
Nothing short of reckless disregard for C’s safety would constitute a breach
Heat of the moment risks allowed
What is the meaning of ‘res ipsa loquitur’?
Where only plausible explanation for C’s injury is D’s negligence:
a) thing causing damage controlled by D
b) accident wouldn’t normally happen w/o negligence
c) cause of accident unknown to C
What 2 things are required to prove causation?
Factual causation
Legal causation
What is factual causation and how is it satisfied?
Establishing link between breach & damage
Apply ‘but for’ test: on balance of probabilities, but for D’s breach, would C have suffered their loss at that time, and in that way? If yes = satisfied
Where breach is failure to advise on risks, how is the ‘but for’ test satisfied?
Where C can prove they wouldn’t have had the treatment or would’ve deferred it had they been told
What test is used to satisfy factual causation for multiple causes operating together?
Material contribution test: ‘more than negligible’ contribution
Also applies to sequential cumulative cases
What test is used for factual causation for industrial disease, single agency cases?
Material increase in risk test
What must be applied if necessary once factual causation is satisfied, where there are multiple tortious factors?
Apportionment: apportion liability between defendants
In abestos cases, D’s are jointly and severally liable
What happens where there are 2 distinct events that cause the same damage, or worsen existing damage, but events are not linked? (for factual consideration)
No damage could be held for 2nd event
How does one prove legal causation?
That there was a NAI that broke the chain of causation:
- Act of God: exceptional natural event (not if foreseen)
- Acts of 3rd Parties: highly unforeseeable (unlikely where 3rd party is medical treatment unless so gross & egregious)
- Acts of Claimant: highly unreasonable (rare)
What is ‘remoteness’ and how is it proved?
C only recovers if the type of damage suffered was reasonably foreseeable at time D breached DoC - broad approach mostly used
1. D need not foresee the exact way damage occurs
2. D need not foresee extent of the type of damage, even if damage aggravated by C’s own weakness (thin skull rule)
What different types of losses are there?
Personal injury
Consequential economic loss
Psychiatric harm
Property damage
Pure economic loss
What are the 2 main remedies for personal injury & death?
Damages
Injunctions (rare)
What are the 2 types of damages for personal injury/death?
Special damages: specifically provable & quantifiable financial losses at time of trials
General damages: future financial losses, which can’t be specifically proven & non-quantifiable losses e.g. compensation for injury
What deductions are made for calculating damages?
State benefits received as result of injury
Contractual sick pay received due to injury
Redundancy payment
What can be claimed by estate/family for death by way of compensation?
Estate can claim for any losses suffered by deceased up to date of death
Certain family can claim compensation if they depended on deceased
May also be able to claim bereavement aware and/or funeral expenses
What is pure economic loss and what is the general rule regarding it?
PEL: economic loss that does not flow from damage to C’s person or property
General Rule: no DoC owed
What are examples of PEL?
Made bad investment
Loss arising from damage to property from another
Defective items
What are the exceptions to the general rule on PEL?
- Negligent statement or act: w/ act, no DoC owed, w/ statement, may be owed
- Negligent will
- Negligent reference
What 3 tests can be applied to determine if a DoC is owed for a negligent statement?
- Reasonable Reliance
- Voluntary assumption of responsibility
- Special relationship of trust and confidence
What is necessary to satisfy the reasonable reliance test?
- C relied on D’s advice
- Reasonable for C to rely on D’s advice: consider special skill/knowledge of D & C; general context in which advice given; nature of advice; potential risk to C; availability of 2nd opinion
- D knew or ought to have known C was relying on their advice
What is necessary to satisfy the voluntary assumption of responsibility test?
Main Question: was relationship equivalent to a contract?
1. D communicates advice to C
2. D knows purpose for C will use advice
3. D knows/reasonably believes C will rely on advice w/o enquiry
4. C acted upon advice
What is necessary to satisfy the special relationship of trust and confidence test?
- Party seeking advice trusted the other to exercise care
- Reasonable for them to do that
- Other gave advice knowing/ought to have known C was rely on it
How do disclaimers work re negligent statements?
D has taken positive steps against assuming responsibility for their words
Must be reasonable to avoid a DoC:
- parties of equal bargaining power?
- reasonably practical to get advice from another source?
- how difficult was task done by D?
- practical consequences?
What are the basic requirements for claims for psychiatric harm?
- Suffered from a medically recognised psychiatric illness or shock induced physical condition
- Categorise claimant
What is not sufficient to prove a medically recognised psych illness (for psych harm claims)?
Grief
Fear
Isolated flashbacks
Distress
What are the different categories of claimant?
- Actual Victim
- Primary Victim: someone caught up in incident but escapes physical injury, but suffers psych harm due to reasonable fear for their own safety
- Secondary Victim: not caught up in incident & no physical harm, but suffer psych harm due to fear for someone else’s safety
- Beyond primary & secondary victims: where D assumed responsibility to ensure C avoids reasonably foreseeable psych harm
What are the requirements for a primary victim?
- Must show physical harm was reasonably foreseeable
- If yes, normal principles to establish DoC considered
What are the requirements for a secondary victim?
- Psych harm reasonably foreseeable in person of ordinary fortitude in same circumstances
- Proximity of relationship between C & victim: one of close ties & affection; rebuttably presumed for parent/child; husband/wife & engaged couples
- Proximity in time & space: must be presence at scene/immediate aftermath & must see/hear it
- Injury result of sudden shock
- Fair, just & reasonable