Law of Tort and Easement for LLB 1 Shart Q and Short Answer Part 6

17. Trespass to Goods

1. What is a trespass to goods?

A “direct, immediate interference with personal property belonging to another person”.

2. What is a reversionary interest?

This is the interest retained by someone who does not currently have possession of them, or the right to immediate possession, but to whom such rights will revert when the current possessor's interest expires.

3. What is a conversion?

A “dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the rights of the true owner”.

4. What is the primary statute of relevance in this area?

The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977

5. Who can sue in conversion?

Only the party currently in possession of the goods, or with the right to immediate possession, (even if this is not the owner).

6. What might be considered remarkable about the remedies available for conversion?

There is no automatic legal right for the claimant to have the goods returned to him; the general remedy is the market value of the goods. Once this has been paid, the claimant's title is extinguished, effectively facilitating a forced judicial sale of the goods in question.

7. What happened to the old action of detinue?

It was abolished in name by the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, but in substance is now covered by conversion.

8. True or False: contributory negligence is no defence to the tort of conversion?

True

9. What is trover?

It is the old name for conversion and is sometimes still used.

10. Is intention relevant to the tort of conversion?

Yes

18. Defamation and Other Torts Affecting the Reputation

1. What are the primary differences between libel and slander?

·         Libel has to exist in some permanent form; slander does not

·         Libel is actionable per se; slander is not

·         Libel can be a crime as well as a tort; slander is just a tort

2. True or False: only living persons can sue for defamtion?

True

3. What is meant in this context by ‘publication’?

It means the statement must be communicated to a third party.

4. In which case was the following definition of defamation offered?

“A statement which tends to lower the claimant in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally…”

Sim v Stretch

5. What technical term is used to refer to the situation where words are not defamatory on their face, but can be construed as such by people who know the claimant?

Innuendo

6. What is the material difference between qualified and absolute privilege?

In order successfully to plead qualified privilege, the defendant must prove that the statement was made without malice.

7. What remedies are available in defamation?

Injunction and damages

19. Remedies in Tort

1. What is the term used to refer to damages which are awarded where a claimant has proved his claim but suffered no loss?

Nominal damages

2. What is the general aim of tort damages?

Compensation

3. Which House of Lords' decision provides the current principles for determining when exemplary damages may be awarded in tort cases?

Kuddus v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary

4. What are special damages?

These are quantifiable pecuniary losses up to the date of trial.

5. Are pain and suffering considered subjectively or objectively when quantifying damages?

Subjectively

6. Under which statutory provision can damages for bereavement now be claimed in certain circumstances?

S 3 Administration of Justice Act 1982 (new s 1A Fatal Accidents Act 1976)

20. Defences

1. Following Froom v Butcher, what percentage reduction will now be made in a claimant's damages if he was not wearing a seatbelt when doing so would have prevented his injuries altogether?

25%

2. Under which statutory provision are defendants prevented from relying on the defence of volenti where insurance is compulsory?

S 149 of the Road Traffic Act

3. What is the name of the defence based on the defendant's engagement in an illegal act at the time he was injured?

Ex turpi causa non oritur actio

4. Is there a doctrine of ‘informed consent’ in English law?

No

5. What is the limitation period for tort actions?

Six years from the date at which the action accrued.

6. What is an ‘inevitable accident’?

An accident which no human foresight could have prevented.

7. What is the term used to describe damage which exists, but which cannot be detected straightaway, and what does this cause problems for?

Latent damage. It causes problems for limitation purposes (lessened somewhat by the Latent Damage act 1986).

21. Criticisms of Tort — Reforms

1. What is the name for the set of rules implemented as a result of The Woolf Report, Access to Justice?

Civil Procedure Rules 1998

2. Name four major criticisms often levelled at the tort system?

The need to prove fault, uncertainty for claimants, failure to meet its objectives and inefficiency.

3. What has replaced legal aid in personal injury claims?

The conditional fee system.

4. What alternative to the tort system was advocated in Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust?

Mediation

5. What is the most often mooted alternative for the tort system as it currently stands?

A no-fault compensation system.