Corporate and Business Law (ENG)

2 Designed to give you knowledge and application of: Section B: The Law of Obligations B1. Formation of contract B2. Content of contracts B3. Breach of contract & remedies B4. The law of torts

3 Learning Outcomes  Meaning of tort.  Identify examples of torts including ‘passing off’ and negligence.  Duty of care and its breach.  Meaning of causality and remoteness of damage.  Discuss defences to actions in negligence. B4: The law of torts

4 The meaning of tort Tort is a private or civil wrong or injury for which a court of law may provide a remedy through a lawsuit for damages in the form of compensation Torts include : Trespass interruption or interference with the possession of the land Defamation making a statement which harms the status of the claimant Nuisance unreasonable interference with or disrupts the use and enjoyment of another person’s property Negligence failure to act reasonably Passing-off making some false representation

5 Categories of tort Intentional torts those wrongs which the defendant knew or should have known would occur through their actions or inactions Negligent torts when the defendant's actions were unreasonably unsafe due to negligence Strict liability torts It does not depend on degree of carefulness by defendant, but are established when a particular action causes damage

6 The examples of torts including ‘passing off’ and negligence two types Libel is a representation made in some permanent form. Slander is a representation of a defamatory statement in a temporary form. Torts recognised under common law an overt attempt to physically injure a person or create a feeling of fear and apprehension of injury Assault Battery an intentional tort that results from physical contact like a cut, scrape, bruise, burn or fracture etc. injury to the reputation of a personDefamation Continued …

7 when someone unreasonably interferes with or disrupts the use and enjoyment of other person’s property. Davey V Harrow Corporation (1958) Nuisance Elements of tort of negligence Duty Person owes a duty of care to another person when he foresees that the other may be exposed to risk of injury if particular acts / omissions are continued. Breach of duty Means non- observance of a duty which is required in a particular situation. Haley V London Electricity Board Causation. For defendant to be held liable, it must be shown that particular acts or omissions were cause of loss or damage sustained. Damage May be physical, economic, or both, or may be damage to reputation. defined as the failure to act reasonably Negligence Continued …

8 Passing off Misrepresentation by traders in course of trade i.e. when a party uses another's trademarks, brand names or other features without permission, in order to mislead consumers The obligation to exercise a level of care towards an individual, as is reasonable in all the circumstances, to avoid injury to that individual or his property. Booker v Wenborn (1962) Duty of care The duty of care and its breach The defendant failed to take reasonable care as judged against the conduct of a reasonable person in that person’s position Breach of a duty of care Duty of care Continued …

9 Rules for establishing a breach of a duty of care  act or omission was negligent  act or omission was voluntary  act or omission must cause, as its foreseeable and natural consequence, harm to another individual Remedies for a breach of a duty of care  either a claim for damages or an action to stop their wrongful conduct by seeking an interdict in the civil courts in Scotland or an injunction in the courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland  damages will only become payable if the harm suffered was a direct result of the wrongful conduct Continued …

10 No defendant can be made liable infinitely for all the consequences which follow his wrongful act. On practical grounds, a line must be drawn somewhere and certain kinds or types of losses, although a direct result of the defendant’s conduct may remain uncompensated. Remoteness of damages The meaning of causality and remoteness of damage Causality here is the principle that everything that happens must have a cause.

11 Recap  Meaning of tort.  Identify examples of torts including ‘passing off’ and negligence.  Duty of care and its breach.  Meaning of causality and remoteness of damage.  Discuss defences to actions in negligence.