CILEx L6 Tort Law 3

Question 1

The two-stage test for vicarious liability confirmed by the Supreme Court in Various Claimants v Catholic Child Welfare Society [2012] requires the court to establish:

Accepted Answer

Whether the relationship between defendant and tortfeasor is capable of giving rise to vicarious liability, and whether the connection between that relationship and the tort is sufficient

Answer

Whether the employer was negligent in hiring the tortfeasor, and whether the specific harm was foreseeable

Answer

Whether the tortfeasor intended to benefit the defendant, and whether the defendant ratified the conduct after the fact

Answer

Whether the defendant held liability insurance and whether the claimant suffered personal injury or only economic loss

Question 2

In Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd [2001], the House of Lords held the school vicariously liable for a warden's sexual abuse of pupils because:

Accepted Answer

There was a sufficiently close connection between the duties entrusted to the warden and the abuse he perpetrated

Answer

The school had expressly authorised the warden to have unsupervised contact with the boys in his role

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The school had been negligent in its recruitment and failed to conduct proper background checks on the warden

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The abuse was an unauthorised mode of performing an authorised act within the scope of his employment

Question 3

In Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992], secondary victims of psychiatric injury must satisfy which additional control mechanisms beyond proof of a recognised psychiatric illness?

Accepted Answer

They must establish a close tie of love and affection with the primary victim, proximity in time and space to the accident, and perception of the event through their own unaided senses

Answer

They must show they were employed in a rescue or emergency capacity and were present at the scene in that role

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They must show the defendant owed them a specific personal duty of care arising from a pre-existing relationship between them

Answer

They must prove the primary victim has already succeeded in recovering compensation from the same defendant

Question 4

The economic tort of causing loss by unlawful means, as clarified by the House of Lords in OBG Ltd v Allan [2007], requires which elements?

Accepted Answer

An intention to injure the claimant, use of unlawful means directed against a third party with whom the claimant dealt, and resulting loss to the claimant

Answer

Proof that the defendant was a direct competitor of the claimant who used unlawful means to divert business

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That the defendant induced a third party to break a contract with the claimant by means of threats or unlawful pressure

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That the defendant's unlawful means directly and physically interfered with the claimant's business premises or equipment

Question 5

The principle of restitutio in integrum in tort damages, established in Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co (1880), means that tort damages aim to:

Accepted Answer

Restore the claimant as nearly as possible to the position they would have been in had the tort not been committed

Answer

Punish the defendant sufficiently to deter future wrongdoing by others in the same industry

Answer

Ensure the defendant disgorges any profit made as a result of committing the tort against the claimant

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Compensate the claimant only for measurable financial losses, excluding non-pecuniary loss such as pain and suffering

Question 6

In Rookes v Barnard [1964], Lord Devlin restricted exemplary (punitive) damages in tort to which three categories?

Accepted Answer

Oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional acts by government servants; defendant's calculated profit-making where compensatory damages would be inadequate; and cases expressly authorised by statute

Answer

Cases involving fraud, cases involving deliberate personal injury, and cases involving breach of fiduciary duty

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Torts committed against vulnerable claimants, torts resulting in death, and torts involving abuse of a position of trust

Answer

Cases where the defendant has previous convictions, cases of wilful wrongdoing, and cases of gross negligence

Question 7

Under the American Cyanamid Co v Ethicon Ltd [1975] principles, an interim injunction in a tort claim will be granted where:

Accepted Answer

There is a serious question to be tried and the balance of convenience, including the adequacy of damages, favours granting the injunction

Answer

The claimant's case is stronger than the defendant's when assessed on the balance of probabilities at an interim hearing

Answer

The defendant's tortious conduct is ongoing and the claimant has already exhausted all alternative remedies before seeking court intervention

Answer

The claimant can demonstrate with near certainty that they will succeed at full trial on the merits