13. Defamation

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter deals with the actions in defamation that protect reputation, paying particular attention to the relationship between the protected interest in reputation and the competing interest in freedom of expression. It first considers relevant provisions in the Defamation Act 2013, including the ‘serious harm’ criterion, before turning to the terms of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to freedom of expression, with emphasis on the so-called chilling effect. It also discusses libel and slander as well as malicious falsehood, elements of a claim in defamation, defences available to the accused, and the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales to hear defamation claims. The chapter concludes by looking at parties who cannot sue in defamation.

12. Liability For Dangerous Premises

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines damage which arises out of dangers encountered on premises. The duties in question are owed to parties who are present on the premises, rather than to neighbouring occupiers or (for example) users of the highway, and governed by two pieces of legislation: the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 and the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984. The discussion begins by considering the criteria used to determine when the occupiers’ liability acts are engaged, whose responsibility is it to guard against the risks, and the duty owed to visitors and non-visitors. The chapter then turns to defences and exclusion of liability.

8. Damages, Compensation, and Responsibility

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter deals with remedies, particularly monetary remedies, and remedial issues in relation to torts. Before discussing compensation and responsibility, it first considers the heads of loss for which damages in tort may be awarded, and some serious conceptual difficulties involved with this. It then looks at the potential for non-compensatory awards and the challenge to tort law represented by the growth of damages under the Human Rights Act 1998. It also assesses recent developments with respect to the assessment and delivery of damages, the funding of litigation, and the relationship between tort damages and welfare support.

7. Limitation and Contribution

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the principles of contribution and their effect on the remedies that can be obtained by a successful claimant, as well as the statutory rules of ‘limitation’ that govern the time-barring of claims. The liability of more than one party for ‘the same damage’ is discussed, together with the apportionment of responsibility for the damage. Relevant provisions found in the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 and the Limitation Act 1980 are also considered.

5. Defences to Negligence

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter explores three defences to negligence which are also defences to other torts: volenti non fit injuria or willing assumption of risk, the illegality defence (also known as ex turpi causa), and contributory negligence. In relation to contributory negligence, the chapter considers responsibility, which involves questions both of causal influence and of fault, before turning to a discussion of apportionment of responsibility between the parties, and proportionality. In relation to illegality, recent decisions of the Supreme Court are examined.Relevant provisions of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 are extracted, together with further extracts from significant cases.

16. Breach of Statutory Duty

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter deals with the action for breach of statutory duty, an action in tort meant to remedy harm caused by a breach of the duty. It first considers the distinctiveness of the tort of breach of statutory duty, with particular reference to the question of whether the breach gives rise to liability at common law. It then looks at case law involving civil liability for breach of industrial safety, citing Groves v Wimborne (Lord) [1898] 2 QB 402 and its significance in the context of workplace injuries. It also discusses cases dealing with ‘social welfare’ legislation and ‘public law duties’ as well as civil liberties before concluding with an assessment of the effect of the restrictive approach to the action for breach of statutory duty on the tort of negligence.

14. Privacy

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter focuses on the emergence of a new action to protect privacy under the Human Rights Act 1998, with particular reference to unjustified publication of private information. It begins by considering whether privacy is a protected interest at common law and whether privacy must be recognised and given protection through the law of tort. It then examines the tools which have been used in the partial absorption of privacy as a protected interest in common law, citing the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The controversies surrounding disclosure of private information and the power of injunctions are also considered, along with the issue of intrusion as an invasion of privacy.

15. Product Liability

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the statutory strict liability for damage arising from defective products as set out in the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the EEC Directive on Product Liability. It begins by considering the apportionment of risks associated with products and the development risks defence before turning to similarities between statutory liability and common law liabilities based on negligence and on strict liability. It then looks at the reasons why it is misleading to consider ‘product liability’ in isolation and the concept of defectiveness.

6. Duty of Care: Applications

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter deals with particular applications of the duty of care concept that determine the boundaries of the tort. Various cases on duty of care are examined in terms of recognized categories relating to negligently inflicted psychiatric damage, ‘pure economic loss’, negligence liability of public authorities, and ‘wrongful birth’ associated with failed sterilization operations. The chapter also considers the assumption of responsibility criterion developed from the case of Hedley Byrne v Heller [1964] AC 465, as well as applications of the ‘Caparo approach’ used in establishing whether a duty is owed. Finally, it looks at emerging organizing concepts which appear to span different categories of case law.

2. Torts of Intention

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter deals with ‘intentional torts’ and their considerable variation that affects both the required target of intention (what must be intended?) and the required level of intention (what does it mean to intend something?). It first considers the meaning of intention before breaking down the ‘intentional torts’ into a number of groups, the first of which is trespass to the person and its three elements: battery, assault, and false imprisonment. The action in Wilkinson v Downton is discussed, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in OPO v Rhodes (2015), along with intentional economic torts. The chapter concludes by focusing on torts relating to intentional abuse of process (malicious prosecution) and of power (misfeasance in a public office).