2. General tortious liability
• In many torts, the defendant is liable because
he acted intentionally or at least negligently
• He may escape liability if he shows that he
acted with reasonable care.
– That is essentially the position in the tort of
negligence itself
Pg 235
3. Strict liability
• There are torts which result from breach of an
absolute duty: the defendant is liable even
though he took reasonable care
• Case: Rylands v Fletcher
Pg 235
5. Trespass
• Trespass to
– Person
• Battery, assault, false imprisonment
– Land
• Unlawful interference with the possession of
someone’s land
– Goods
• Destroying or stealing
6. Trespass to land
• Interference – No damage need to be proved, as
the interference itself is enough to establish
liability
• Wrong to possession rather than ownership
– The claimant need not to be the owner of the land
• Deliberately entry to the land
– Does not matter if the defendant did not know he was
on the claimant’s land
7. Trespass to land - forms
• Enter into land
• Remaining on the land for longer period than
entitled
• Placing objects or rubbish on the land
• Abusing permission to be on the land
• Driving animals to land
8. Rights to possession of land
• Rights to possession of land
– Subsoil beneath
– Airspace above
• Trespass in airspace is limited
– It is not trespass to fly an aircraft over the land at
a reasonable height
9. Justification of trespass
• Have a license to enter the land
• Right of entry conferred by the owner
• Public right of way
– E.g. Way to an enclosed area
• Statutory powers of entry –
– E.g. Police
• Necessity
– E.g. Fire
10. Remedies to an action for trespass
• Seek damage
– E.g. Compensation for physical damage
• Injunction
– E.g. Court order to stop or expel a trespasser
11. Occupiers’ liability
• Business as occupiers
– Occupiers’ liability for damage or injury caused to
people coming to their premises
– An occupier is any person who has control or
possession of the premises
12. Liability to visitors
• An occupier owes a duty to all visitors to the
premises
• Must take such precautions as are necessary
to make the premises reasonably safe
13. E.g. Sales person
• A sales person who enters to do business with
the occupier is deemed to have implied
permission to entry
– Although he may be making a casual call to the
premises
• There is no duty of care to the sales person who
exceeds the limit of the permitted purpose
– E.g. Stray in the building unconnected to his visit. He
becomes a trespasser
14. Duty of occupier – to visitors
• By taking reasonable measures
– E.g. Repair work, to eliminate a hazard
– E.g. Not liable for the unsafe state of lift due to
negligence of the specialist firm employed to
repair it, but, liable when a school cleaner leaves
slippery ice on a step
• By giving warning
– Signage displayed
– Not a sufficient precaution in some cases
15. Nuisance
• Public nuisance
– Annoyance of general public
• Private nuisance
– Interference with the claimant’s enjoyment of his
property
16. Defamation
• To protect the reputation of others
• A defamatory statement - it damage the
reputation of the person defamed
– Lowers his standing in society
– Causes him to be shunned or avoided
– Makes imputations which are damaging to him in
his profession, business or occupation Pg 245
17. Forms of defamatory statement
• Libel
– In writing
– See case Yousoupoff v MGM Pictures Ltd 1934
Pg 245
• Slander
– Spoken statement or gesture
18. What is defamatory?
• For a statement to be defamatory, it must be
both
– False and
– Capable of being construed in a defamatory way
• But, a statement may not be defamatory if
– The statement contains a wider meaning
– People with Special knowledge did so infer
– Special facts
See Tolley v Fry 1931 Pg 248
19. Health and safety issues
• Health and Safety At Work Act
• Health and Safety bodies
• Pg 251 – 255
• General prevention
– Avoid risks
– Evaluate risks that cannot be avoided
– Combating risks at source
– Pg 256
20.
21. • Review the various cases given and advise Fix-
IT accordingly
