Prescription and Limitation

Section 17: Three year limitation period for personal injury actions
- Exception: Does not apply to childhood abuse
Section 18: Three year limitation period for fatal cases
Section 19A:
- The court may allow time-barred action to proceed if equitable to do so
Case Reference: Comber v Greater Glasgow Health Board (1989)
- Discusses problems confronting historic abuse victims
Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Sc) Act 2017

Section 1(1):
- Defines employer's liability related to defective equipment:
- If an employee suffers personal injury due to equipment defect provided by employer for business purposes, and
- The defect is attributable wholly or partly to a third party's fault,
- The injury shall also be deemed attributable to negligence on the part of the employer.

Common law duties to take reasonable care:
- Case References:
- Latimer v AEC (1953)
- Paris v Stepney Borough Council (1951)
- Duties include:
- To provide safe premises
- To provide safe plant
To provide a safe system of work:
- Case reference: Walker v Northumberland C.C. (1994)
- Note: The employer’s common law duty is non-delegable
- Case reference: Wilsons & Clyde Coal Co Ltd v English (1938)

Key points:
- The court is not bound to absolve a defendant doctor from liability for negligent treatment or diagnosis if evidence from multiple medical experts suggests their treatment conformed to sound medical practice.
- Legal standard requires the court to be satisfied that the expert opinions cited are logically based.
- Citation:
- Lord Browne-Wilkinson, [1998] AC 232, 241-242

Recent cases reaffirm that relationships beyond employment can give rise to vicarious liability.
- Case reference: Various Claimants v Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (2013)
- Outcome: An unincorporated association held vicariously liable for abuse by its non-employee members.
- Notably: School managers also held vicariously liable resulting in a finding of dual vicarious liability.

Further explanation of spuilzie:
- The act of taking moveables without the owner's consent or legal order necessitates restitution.
- Quotation: “the taking away…obliging to restitution…according to the estimation of the injured…”
- Stair, I IX 16

Common law regarding animal liability:
- Strict liability for damage done by at fault animals if:
- (a) the animal is ferae naturae:
  - Dangerous species like lions, bears, wolves
- (b) the animal is mansuetae naturae, but the keeper knew of its dangerous characteristics:
  - Includes bulls, horses, dogs
- Important note: The animal categories are not exhaustive.

The Act reformulates traditional categories into a statutory strict liability test emphasizing:
- Keeper status
- General species characteristics
- Causal link between species characteristics and harm caused

Defined as: An obligation arising ex lege (by law)
Comparison to Delict:
- Delict is centered on compensation for loss.
- A delictual obligation to make reparation only occurs after a wrongful act has caused loss.
- An obligation based on unjustified enrichment can arise without a wrongful act.

Example 1:
- A student pays £500 twice for accommodation due to portal failure.
- Result: University is enriched by £500 without legal basis; student's impoverishment of £500.
Example 2:
- Contractor mistakenly paints a different flat.
- Result: Owner of 12A is enriched by new decoration; contractor is impoverished with no contract.
Example 3:
- Supplier A ships £10,000 in goods to Company X by mistake, thinking it's owed.
- Result: Company X is enriched at the expense of Company B’s obligation.
Example 4:
- Buyer pays deposit for lab equipment; seller goes bankrupt before production.
- Result: Buyer seeks recovery of deposit as contract fails.
Example 5:
- Event organizer gains venue services through booking error.
- Result: Free service obtained with no legal grounds.

Distinction between Property Law and Unjustified Enrichment:
- Property Law: Involves real rights in things
- Unjustified Enrichment: Involves personal rights
Example:
- Person A builds on Person B's land, expenditures occur affecting value.
- Person A expends £200,000 on a house, increasing Person B's land value by £120,000.
- As a result, A can recover only the £120,000 which represents B's actual enrichment.

Defined as: An action for the recovery of money paid that was not owed.
- Example:
- A mistakenly pays £500 in taxes but only owes £250.
- A may invoke condictio indebiti to recover the £250 overpaid.
- Note: The original payment must be made in error.

Defined as: An action for recovery of money when the anticipated consideration does not follow through.
- Example:
- A pays B for university funding; if B fails to enroll, A can recover the payment using condictio.
- Another example is paying a deposit on a contract that becomes impossible to fulfill.

Defined as: An action to recover money paid for unlawful or immoral purposes.
- Example:
- A provides funding unwittingly for an illegal project, A may recover funds.