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The Law of Torts

The Law of Torts. English Civil Law. Two most important subcategories: The law of contract The law of torts The Law of Torts is an area of civil or private law. What is public law and what is private law? Which areas of private law can you think of?.

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The Law of Torts

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  1. TheLawofTorts

  2. English Civil Law • Two most important subcategories: • The law of contract • The law of torts • The Law of Torts is an area of civil or private law. • What is public law and what is private law? • Which areas of private law can you think of?

  3. Tortsinvolvesituationswheredamagewascaused or wrongcommitted as a resultofunreasonableconduct, unrelated to a contract. • Damage – šteta • Damages - odšteta

  4. Torts • Tort – a Norman-French word which means a wrong. • In English law: a civil wrong; a wrong committed by one citizen against another not serious enough to amount to the breaking of the criminal law • Less serious wrongs not punished by the state

  5. Tortious conduct • Tortiousconduct is usuallyperceivednot to besufficientlyserioustoconstitute a crime. • No criminal liability, just civil liability • Tortiousconduct (behaviour) - štetno ponašanje

  6. The law of torts • The law of torts is concerned with ways to compensate for the damage suffered and deter from further harmful activity. • Legal remedies (outcomes): damages and injunction • Damages – odšteta • Injunction – sudski nalog ili zabrana

  7. What is Law of Torts? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ6smN3lcnY • Discuss the following: • Civil v. criminal case • Liable v. guilty • Preponderance of evidence v. beyond reasonable doubt • Preponderance: „more likely than not” accurate

  8. Parties • The offender (the persons who commits a wrong to another) is called a TORTFEASOR • The injured party is called a CLAIMANT • Action is taken by the injured party against the tortfeasor

  9. Wrongful behaviour • The major difference between the law of contract and the law of tort is that with respect to the law of tort, the law has fixed what kind of behaviour is wrongful (tortious behaviour) • With respect to the law of contract, the contractual agreement between the parties lays down what will be seen as wrongful behaviour

  10. Compensation of damages • The claimant (formerly plaintiff) may recover damages for their injury (physical or mental) and loss • Special damages: losses that can be precisely quantified in monetary terms • General damages – losses that cannot be exactly defined in monetary terms (the actual pain suffered, expected future losses) • Where the claimant’s general or special damages are negligible, the court may award nominal damages

  11. Types of torts • Negligence • Torts affecting land • Trespass • Nuisance • Torts affecting civil liberties • Assault and battery • False imprisonment • Defamation (libel and slander)

  12. Negligence • A failure to apply reasonable care in order to avoid foreseeable injuries to others • The duty to avoid being negligent is defined in terms of ordinary care • Ordinary care generally means the degree of care that would be used by a reasonable person under the same or similar circumstances • Professional and personal negligence

  13. Law of negligence • The modern law of negligence was established in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562. In order to be successful in a negligence claim, the claimant must prove: • 1. the defendant owed them a duty of care; • 2. the defendant was in breach of that duty; • 3. the breach of duty caused damage and; • 4. the damage was not too remote.

  14. A case study • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgEYzgrNvy0 • 1. What was the case? • 2. Why is it important? • 3. Who owes us duty of care (i.e. who is my neighbour?)

  15. Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 House of Lords • Mrs Donoghue went to a cafe with a friend. The friend brought her a bottle of ginger beer and an ice cream. The ginger beer came in an opaque bottle so that the contents could not be seen. Mrs Donoghue poured half the contents of the bottle over her ice cream and also drank some from the bottle. After eating part of the ice cream, she then poured the remaining contents of the bottle over the ice cream and a decomposed snail emerged from the bottle. Mrs Donoghue suffered personal injury as a result. She commenced a claim against the manufacturer of the ginger beer.

  16. Her claim was successful. This case established the modern law of negligence and established the neighbour test.

  17. Who is my neighbour? • "The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question " Who is my neighbour ?" receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injur your neighbour. Who then in law is my neighbour ? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question." • Lord Atkin

  18. Nuisance • An unreasonable interference with another person’s use or enjoyment of property • The injured party may sue for an injunction or damages, or both • Interference must be continuous • Public nuisance (affects many people or the whole community) • Private nuisance (interferes with the individual’s enjoyment or use of property) • Mixed nuisance – both public and private

  19. Trespass • An unlawful entry to another person’s property • Any unauthorized intrusion or invasion of private premises or the land of another • Continuous trespass – continued presence on the land of another (injunction)

  20. Defamation • Oral (slander) or written (libel) injury of somebody’s reputation • An intentional false communication that injures another person’s good name • The claimant must prove that the defamatory statement was made with malice (knowing it was false or with a reckless disregard as to whether it was true or false)

  21. Contract and tort Translate the following sentence: Contract and tort are related to one another: a trader who sells dangerous goods can be sued in negligence for injuries so caused and may also be held liable for a breach of a contractual duty to see that his goods are of merchantable quality.

  22. Vocabulary • Tort – delikt • Tort law - odštetno pravo • Tortious conduct – štetno ponašanje • Tortfeasor – počinitelj delikta, štetnik • Negligence – nemar • Nuisance – smetnja • Trespass – ometanje posjeda • Defamation – kleveta • Claimant – tužitelj u građanskoj parnici • Injunction – sudski nalog, sudska zabrana • Damages - odšteta

  23. Completethedefinitionsbelow: • ______ __ indirect injuries to a person’s property or his enjoyment of property. • _________ injurious breach of a legal duty of care owed to the plaintiff. • --------- the act of attacking the reputation of some persons. • ___________ direct interference with the personal goods or land of another.

  24. Answer key • NUISANCE - indirect injuries to a person’s property or his enjoyment of property. • NEGLIGENCE - injurious breach of a legal duty of care owed to the plaintiff. • DEFAMATION - the act of attacking the reputation of some persons. • TRESPASS - direct interference with the personal goods or land of another.

  25. Thank you for your attention!

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