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Summary TORT Law Notes

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TORT Law Notes for SQE 1 Exams

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  • June 15, 2024
  • 59
  • 2023/2024
  • Summary
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TORT

NEGLIGENCE: DUTY OF CARE

- Tort of negligence can provide compensation for harm caused to a claimant
by the carelessness of a defendant

- A breach of a legal duty of care owed to a claimant that results in harm to the
claimant, undesired by the defendant


1. Did the Defendant owe the claimant a duty of care?
- No
o There is no liability in negligence
- Yes
o Consider breach of duty

2. Was the defendant in breach of duty
- No
o There is no liability in negligence
- Yes
o Consider causation

3. Did the defendant’s breach of duty cause damage to the claimant?
- No
o There is no liability in negligence
- Yes
o consider the defenced


DUTY OF CARE
- no general duty owed by the police to a suspect regarding the way in which
the police conduct their investigation
o Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire

- Only where the claimant has suffered physical damage either personal injury
or damage to property

- Established duty situations:
o One road user to another: driver to drivers: driver to passenger: driver
to pedestrian: cyclist to driver: cyclist to pedestrian
o Doctor to Patient
o Employer to Employee
o Manufacturer to Consumer
o Tutor to Tutee, Teacher to Pupil

- Baker v TE Hopkins & Son Ltd – Driver who caused an accident owes a duty
of care to pedestrian who tried to rescue the injured road used.

, o Where a defendants actions have created a dangerous situation so
that it is reasonably foreseeable that someone may attempt a rescue,
the defendant owes a duty of care to the rescuer


Novel Duty Situations
- Modern test to determine duty of care in novel situations

Old Test:
o Donoghue v Stevenson
 Manufacturer owed person who drunk the drink a duty of care
 Manufacturer duty to consumer

o This case determined the neighbour principle
o Lord Atkins:
 You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which
you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your
neighbour
 Who is your neighbour?
o Persons who are so close and directly affected by
my act that I ought reasonably to have them in my
contemplation as being so affected when I am
directing my mind to the acts or omissions which
are called in question
o The test is one of close relationship or proximity
o Whether the particular defendant ought reasonably to have foreseen
the likelihood of injury to this claimant

NEW TEST:

- Caparo Test
o New test to determine duty of car in novel situations
o House of Lords held that the auditors who showed the company was
worth more money that it was worth did not owe a duty of care to the
claimant who relied on this and bought more shares in the company

o 3 Part TEST:

 Reasonable foresight of harm to the claimant
 Sufficient proximity of relationship between the claimant and
defendant and
 That it is fair, just and reasonably to impose a duty

- Foreseeability
o Reasonable foresight of harm to the claimant
o Is it reasonably foreseeable that the defendant’s actions will affect this
particular claimant?
o Bourhill v Young-
 Where harm was not reasonably foreseeable.

,  As the claimant was not foreseeable victim to the
motorcyclist who caused an accident. The claimant heard
the collision and walked to the scene.

- Proximity
o Proximity relates to the relationship between the claimant and the
defendant

- Fair, Just and Reasonable
o Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
 Claim was brought against the police by the parents of a murder
victim
 There was no duty of care owed by the police to any individual
as their duty is to the public at large

o Factors to consider:
 Floodgates argument:
 If one case is allowed to succeed, the floodgates will
open to admit hundreds of other similar cases

 Deterrence of a certain type of behaviour may be a
consideration

 Resources
 The court will consider a decision very carefully if the
defendant has no insurance to meet an award of
compensation
 Likewise the court will consider the overall increase in
premiums funded by society in general, if they award the
damages

 Public Benefit
 Court will consider any benefit to the public as a result of
its decision

 Upholding the law
 Adhering to the rule of law may produce a result which
appears to be unjust in the eyes of the public but the
court must uphold those legal rules despite public
criticism

, LIABILITY FOR OMISSION TO ACT


General rule is that there is no liability for omissions
- Stovin v Wise
o Highway authority failed to exercise its powers to reduce the danger,
and then an accident occurred.
o It was held that the authority owed no duty of care to road users to
alleviate the danger
- i.e if John sees someone drowning and fails to go and help, he cannot be
sued in negligence as he does not owe a stranger a duty to act positively

- Exceptions:
o If someone decides to act, they have a duty not to make the situation
worse
 East Suffolk Rivers Catchment Board v Kent and another-
 If a defendant does not owe a duty to act but
nevertheless decides to intervene, there is no liability in
negligence even if the defendant does act carelessly
unless they make matters worse

o Occasions where there is a duty to act positively
 There is a duty to act positively when a person has some sort of
power or control over the other person or object
 i.e.
o employer and employee
o schools and children
o parents and children
o instructors and pupils

 Home Office v Dorset Yacht co ltd
 Duty of care owed to the claimant by the Home Office
which was liable for the negligent acts of its employees
 The duty is owed by the officers because they should
have foreseen the harm to the claimant’s yacht when they
failed to supervise the boys who all had criminal records

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