Tort Law, Including Negligence and Intentional Torts Flashcards
What is a Tort?
Causing harm by one person to another, other than breach of contract, and for which the law provides a remedy.
What is the difference between Intentional and Unintentional Tort?
Unintentional is negligent
Intentional is done on purpose
Two different liabilities in torts and what are the differences?
Vicarious Liability - Relationship someone has to the person who actually commits the tort.
ex. store is liable to their employees
Primary Liability - One owns personal wrongdoing
ex. assault and battery torts through ones actions.
Two different types of damages in torts? Be able to distinguish between them and give examples of each kind.
Pecuniary Damages- Compensated for out of pocket expenses, loss of future income, and cost of future care
Non-Pecuniary Damages- Compensation for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of life expectancy.
What is the tort of negligence?
:A careless act that causes harm to another
4 steps to negligent action
- Does the defendant owe the plaintiff a Duty of Care?
- Legal Neighbour
- Foreseeability - Did the Defendant breach the standard of care?
- Reasonable person - Did the Defendant’s careless act cause the plaintiff’s injury?
- Causation
- but for - Was the injury suffered by the plaintiff too remote?
- remoteness of damages
Duty of Care: To whom do you owe a duty of care?
Defendant owes a duty of care to anyone who might be reasonably affected by the defendant’s conduct.
Explain what is mean by the standard of care. What is a person judged by? How do you determine if the standard of care was breached?
Standard of care the defendant provides. It is judged by the reasonable person test. It will be determined by a list of evidence that the standard of care was breached.
What is meant by causation? What is the test for causation?
Causation is the relationship between the defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s loss or injury.
Test:
Factual causation - “But for”
Describe what the court looks for in the element of “remoteness”. and what is the test for remoteness?
Was the type/extent of damage suffered by the plaintiff reasonably foreseeable by the defendant or were his injuries too remote
-Reasonably forseeable
Thin Skull Rule
Principle that a defendant is liable for the full extent of a plaintiff’s injury even where a prior vulnerability makes the harm more serious than it otherwise might be
What defenses are available to a defendant in a negligence action?
Contributory Negligence
Voluntary assumption of risk
Remedies in a Tort Action?
Damages - to compensate for the harm he has suffered
Injunction - to prevent future harm.
What is occupiers liability?
Occupier’s Liability at the common law – the liability that occupiers have to anyone who enters onto their land or property
What are the different classes of visitors who might be on your property, and what standard of care is owed to each visitor on your property?
CONTRACTUAL ENTRANT
• Any person who has paid (contracted) for the right to enter the premises
INVITEE
• Any person who comes onto the property to provide the occupier with a benefit
LICENCEE
• Someone who has been permitted by the occupier to enter for the benefit of the licesee
TRESPASSER
• Any person who is not invited onto the property and whose presence is either unknown to the occupier or is objected by the occupier
CHILD TRESPASSER
