Torts

  1. What is in private law? What is in public law?
    Torts, Contracts, Property; relationships between persons(incl's corporations). Criminal, Constitutional(about defining govt's power and limits).
  2. What is torts?
    A civil(non-criminal) wrong for which remedy is a payment of damages. Where you define rights and provide remedies (mostly $).
  3. What is the study of torts?
    Study of extent to which plaintiff's losses  are shifted to shoulders of the person who caused the loss (or insurance compainies), by the law.
  4. Difference between torts and contracts?
    • Torts: duties are fixed by the law; duty is toward persons, generally.
    • Contracts: duties fixed by parties, themselves; duty is toward specific person(s).
  5. Difference between tort and equity?
    No civil injury is a tort if it's only a breach of trust or merely some equitable obligation. Torts is about what we can expect from each other as citizens.
  6. What are the purposes/effects of tort law?
    • Appeasement
    • Punishment/Condemnation (more than just compensation, law declaring youve done me wrong! mixed with morals. )
    • Deterrence/Prevention (negigence is huge incentive for big companies)
    • Protection
    • Compensation (where does damage fall if it was an accident?)
    • Distribution of losses (do we care who is best able to bear the loss?)
    • Justice
  7. What is the floodgates argument?
    General to all law based on precedent. This situation happens a lot: we allow this, then everyone who's run into this situation will claim damages and the court will be flooded by these cases.
  8. What is the standard of proof in civil cases?
    Balance of probabilities.
  9. What are the intentional torts?
    • From Trespass: Assault, Battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattel.
    • Not from Trespass: Intentional Infliction of Mental Suffering, Violation of Privacy, Detinue, Conversion
  10. What are the specific torts other than intentional torts?
    • Defamation
    • Negligence
  11. What are the common law writs?
    • Action in trespass (writ of tresspass). It is the grandfather of most intentional torts. Major funciton was appeasement(no taking revenge). Morphed into assault, battery, false imprisonment, tresspass.
    • Action on the case. Must show wrongful action (not necss. for trespass). Doesn't exist anymore but has mophed into IIMS, viol of privacy, defamation, negligence
  12. What is trespass?
    • Interference with P's person or property by D.
    • - Intereference itself is an injury: it's actionable without proof of damage.
    • - Interference results in direct action by D.
    • - D's action is intentional (or negligent).
  13. When is interference direct?
    • When it flows naturally without the need of an intervening actor (Klar)
    • When it's an immediate consequence of a force set in action by D (Marine Underwriters)
  14. What's the diff btween accidental, negligent, and intentional? (Klar)
    • Accidental: Out of my control.Consequences not reasonably forseeable/preventable.
    • Negligent: D ought to have reasonably forseen and avoided the result.
    • Intentional: D either knows with substantial certainty or desires consequences of the act.
    • - ***IIMS: separates negligent and recklessness.
  15. What torts under trespass to the person?
    Assault, battery, false imprisonment
  16. What torts under tresspass to property?
    Tresspass to land, trespass to chattels(goods)
  17. What's the difference between battery(intentional/negligent) action and a negligence action?
    • Battery: direct; D proves lack of intent or negligience; actionable per se; liable for all resulting harm.
    • Negligence: May be indirect; P proves D was negligent; requires compensable damage: liable for only reasonable, forseeable harm.
  18. Limitations Act 2004?
    • Basic: no proceedings after 2 years from day the claim was discovered.
    • Assault/Sex assault: no limit if trespass to person(assault,batteru) was sexual, if domestic intimate/personal relationship, if there was financial/emotional/physical dependence from P on D.
  19. Elements for Assault?
    • Trespass elements: Direct, Intentional (or negligent), (Extra: Actionable per se (w/o proof of harm) and D liable for all even if not forseeable or intended).
    • + reasonable apprehension of a battery (i.e. reasonable apprehension of an offensive or harmful interference with one's person)
  20. Elements for Battery?
    • Trespass Elements: Direct, Intentional (or negligent), (Extra: Actionable per se (w/o proof of harm) and D liable for all even if not forseeable or intended).
    • + offensive or harmful interference/contact. Must be more than trivial (what's accepted in every day life).
  21. Elements for IIMS:
    Where does it happen?
    • * Not a trespass-originated tort.
    • outrageous or flagrant conduct.
    • calculated to produce harm. (Reasonable person standard)
    • Actually caused harm. Visible and provable illness.
    • Most often in worklplace (harrassment), bullying at school try it, domestic abuse.
  22. Elements for Malicious Prosecution?
    • * Not a trespass-originated tort
    • Original suit instigated by D, and P won.
    • Lack of reasonable or probably cause for suit.
    • Malicious or improper purpose
  23. Elements for False Imprisonment?
    • *Trespass Elements: Directly caused by D, Intentional (or negligent), (Extra: actionable per se (i.e. without proof of harm- onus on D to show justification); liable for all even if not intentional or forseeable).
    • + phys or psych imprisonment/confinement (have to make "prison break"; no other options (that wouldn't cause embarrassment, for example); definable boudaries).
  24. What counts as trespass to land?
    • Mistakenly leaving chattel on land (Turner)
    • Mistaken cutting neighbour's grass (Basely)
    • Going in open-to-public space for purpose other than what the space is used for (Burko)
    • Letting another into a space that isn't yours ()
Author
itsaorange
ID
326936
Card Set
Torts
Description
Torts
Updated