Tort Law Flashcards
What’s the term for a person who commits a tort?
Tortfeasor.
What is a tort?
A breach of duty fixed by law, redressible by compensation.
What is the purpose of tort damages?
To cover the loss adequately so it’s like the tort had never been committed.
What are the time limits for claiming damages?
3 years for personal injury, 6 years for app other torts. Equitable remedies have no strict limits but delay defeats equity.
What is defamation?
An untrue statement which is communicated or published and which damages the claimant’s reputation.
What does the Defamation Act 2013 state?
A statement is not defamatory unless it caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the claimant’s reputation. In the case of trading businesses, this must include serious financial loss.
What is slander?
A spoken act or a gesture that either incurs financial loss on part of the claimant or that states/implies that they committed a criminal offence.
What is libel? Suggest 3 case examples.
Libel is a written or published defamation, typically printed word. It is actionable per se in that no damage must be proved. Sheridan v News of the World (2006), McManus v Beckham (2001), McAlpine v Bercow (2013).
What are the 5 main defences for defamation?
A) the statement is true, B) that the statement is just one of opinion, C) that it was published as a matter of public interest, D) operators of websites aren’t liable for the websites’ users, E) that the statement was peer-reviewed in a scientific paper/journal.
What are the 3 types of trespass?
To goods, to land, to person.
What is trespass to goods? Give a case example.
The unlawful, intentional, direct interference with another person’s goods. Kirk v Gregory (1876).
What is trespass to land? What is a case example of this?
The unlawful interference with another person’s land. Davis v Bennison (1927).
What is the Civil Aviation Act 1982?
It is an exception to the rule regarding trespass to land that states that a person’s land is their land “all the way up to heaven and down to hell”. It permits planes passing over houses.
What are the main types of trespass to person?
Assault, battery and false imprisonment.
What constitutes tortious assault? What is an example case?
A perceived threat of violence to a person. Read v Coker (1853)
What constitutes battery? Give a case example.
The direct intention of force to another person without their consent. Nash v Sheen (1953)