Tort Law AT Lecture Notes

These flashcards encompass key terms and concepts from the introductory lecture on tort law, including definitions relevant to negligence, liability, and various tort types.

Tort Law

A branch of civil law concerning legally enforceable obligations that arise without a prior agreement between parties. It provides a legal framework for individuals to seek remedies, such as damages or injunctions, when they suffer harm or loss due to another person's civil wrong. Its primary objectives include compensation (restorative justice), deterrence, and the fair distribution of risks.

Negligence

A specific tort involving a harmful failure to exercise reasonable care which results in injury to another. To establish negligence, a claimant must prove four elements:

1. A duty of care existed.

2. The defendant breached that duty.

3. The breach caused the harm (Causation).

4. The harm was not too remote.

Duty of Care

The legal obligation to avoid acts or omissions which can foreseeably cause harm to others. This concept was famously defined by the Neighbor Principle in Donoghue v Stevenson and is often assessed today via the Caparo test, which checks for foreseeability, proximity, and whether it is 'fair, just, and reasonable' to impose a duty.

Breach

A failure to meet the required standard of care owed to the claimant. The standard is typically objective: what a 'reasonable person' would have done in the same circumstances. Factors like the magnitude of risk, the cost of precautions, and the social utility of the defendant's actions are considered.

Causation

The requirement that the defendant's breach of duty must be the factual and legal cause of the claimant's harm. Factual causation is usually determined by the 'but for' test: but for the defendant's actions, would the harm have occurred? Legal causation ensures the defendant is only held responsible for consequences they actually brought about.

Remoteness of Harm

A limiting principle in negligence stating that a defendant is only liable for harm that was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of their breach. Established in the Wagon Mound (No. 1) case, it ensures that defendants are not held liable for bizarre or totally unpredictable sequences of events.

Liability

Legal responsibility for one’s actions or omissions that cause harm to another. This can be Direct Liability (personal fault) or Vicarious Liability (where an employer is held responsible for the torts of an employee committed during the course of employment).

False Imprisonment

An intentional tort involving the unlawful and total restraint of a person’s freedom of movement without their consent or legal authority. It does not necessarily require physical force; a psychological barrier or threat can suffice if the person feels they have no reasonable means of escape.

Defamation

The publication of a false statement that tends to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society. It is split into Libel (permanent form, like writing) and Slander (transient form, like speech). Defenses include truth, honest opinion, and public interest.

Private Nuisance

An unlawful or unreasonable interference with a person's use and enjoyment of their land. Unlike trespass, it usually involves non-physical interference such as noise, smells, or vibrations. The court balances the rights of neighbors, considering the locality and the duration of the interference.

Assault

An intentional act that causes another person to reasonably apprehend the immediate application of unlawful force. Unlike battery, physical contact is not required; the focus is on the victim's fear or expectation of an imminent strike.

Battery

The intentional and direct application of unlawful force to another person without their consent. Any form of non-consensual touching can technically constitute battery, though context (like social norms for bumping into someone in a crowd) is often considered.

Intentional Interference

A category of torts where the defendant acted with the intent to bring about a specific outcome or possessed knowledge that the outcome was substantially certain to occur. This includes trespass to land, trespass to goods, and interference with contractual relations.

Trespass

Unlawful, direct, and immediate interference with a person, their land, or their goods. Trespass is 'actionable per se,' meaning the claimant does not need to prove they suffered actual physical or financial damage to win the case; the violation of the right itself is enough.

Vincent v Lake Erie

A landmark American case used in tort theory to discuss the concept of Necessity. The defendant tied their ship to a dock during a storm to save the vessel, causing damage to the dock. The court held that while the shipowner was justified in staying (necessity), they still had to compensate the dock owner for the damage caused.

Strict Liability

A standard of liability where a defendant is held responsible for their actions regardless of whether they were at fault or negligent. Common examples include the rule in Rylands v Fletcher (escaping dangerous things on land) and liability for defective products.

Economic Interests

Financial assets and potential profits protected by tort law. Tort law distinguishes between Consequential Economic Loss (financial loss stemming from physical injury/damage) and Pure Economic Loss (purely financial loss), the latter of which is much harder to claim for in negligence.

Injunction

An equitable remedy where the court orders a party to do something (Mandatory Injunction) or, more commonly, to refrain from doing a specific act (Prohibitory Injunction). It is often used in cases of ongoing nuisance or threatened defamation.

Psychiatric Harm

A recognizable psychiatric illness (not just grief or distress) resulting from a traumatic event caused by the defendant's negligence. Claimants are categorized as Primary Victims (in the zone of physical danger) or Secondary Victims (witnesses who must meet strict criteria regarding proximity and ties of affection).

Public Authorities

Governmental bodies that may be liable in tort. Their liability is complex because the law must balance the protection of individuals with the authority's need to exercise statutory powers and manage public resources, often leading to restricted duties of care compared to private citizens.