Tort law lectures
Lecture 1 – Intro to tort law
Donogue v. Stevenson (1932) UKHL 100
Court basic model
1. Law, private law and obligations
Law as ‘western’ law
- Written sources, public sources (but: custom)
- Argumentation/motivation/justification
- Outcomes, reasoning, and enforcement
Sources of rules/law
- Statute
- Case law
- Rules: criteria and consequence
o Facts have to match criteria
,What is private law?
Areas of private law
- Tort: don’t do unto others (golden rule)
- Contract: pacta sunt servanda (keep your promises)
- Property: relation between persons and things
Nepal: The National Civil (Code) Act, 2017 (2074)
672. Tort deemed to be committed
(1) No person shall cause loss or damage, in any manner, to another person's body, life or
property or legally protected right or interest by the reason of commission or omission
done, whether by any default, negligence or recklessness on the part of himself or herself or
of any one else to whom he or she must bear obligation according to this Chapter.
(2) If the parties do not have any prior contractual relationship in relation to any
commission or omission referred to in subsection (1), the loss or damage resulted from
such a commission or recklessness shall be deemed to be a tort.
Obligations
- Unconditional imperative: you have to do/must refrain
- More or less concrete
- Consequence/remedy if violated
o If X and Y then remedy
,Other sources of obligations
- Undue payment/solution indebiti
- Negotiorum gestio
- Unjust enrichment
- Property law actions
2. What is tort law?
Law as minimum standard?
- ‘’Thou shalt not kill’’
- ‘’Any human act which causes damage to someone else obliges the person by whose
fault it occurred, to compensate it.’’
Functions tort law
- Compensation
- Justice/fairness
o Morality
- Economic efficiency/welfare
o Reducing risks/dangers
o Contrary: freedom
- Regulation: policy considerations
3. The basic structure of torts
- Facts (+ supporting concepts)
- Rule (relevant criteria)
- Consequence: obligation
Donoghue v Stevenson
, Example
Article 1,902 Código Civil (Civil Code Spain) (1889)
The person who, as a result of an action or omission causes damage to another by his fault
of negligence shall be obliged to repair the damage caused.
Action or omission Did not check for snails
Fault or negligence Could check and should check
Causes (result of…) As result of omission, snail in bottle, leading
to…
Damage Nervous shock
Obligation to repair damage caused Manufacturer must pay damages
4. Families of tort law
General rule in art. 1902 Spanish code French approach
French law
- Art. 1240 CC
- ‘’Any human act which causes damage to someone else obliges the person by whose
fault it occurred, to compensate it.’’
English law
- Negligence
- Breach of statutory duty
- Trespass
- Conversion
- Defamation
- Infringement on (IP) rights
Specific tort: battery
Specific tort: trespass to land
Lecture 1 – Intro to tort law
Donogue v. Stevenson (1932) UKHL 100
Court basic model
1. Law, private law and obligations
Law as ‘western’ law
- Written sources, public sources (but: custom)
- Argumentation/motivation/justification
- Outcomes, reasoning, and enforcement
Sources of rules/law
- Statute
- Case law
- Rules: criteria and consequence
o Facts have to match criteria
,What is private law?
Areas of private law
- Tort: don’t do unto others (golden rule)
- Contract: pacta sunt servanda (keep your promises)
- Property: relation between persons and things
Nepal: The National Civil (Code) Act, 2017 (2074)
672. Tort deemed to be committed
(1) No person shall cause loss or damage, in any manner, to another person's body, life or
property or legally protected right or interest by the reason of commission or omission
done, whether by any default, negligence or recklessness on the part of himself or herself or
of any one else to whom he or she must bear obligation according to this Chapter.
(2) If the parties do not have any prior contractual relationship in relation to any
commission or omission referred to in subsection (1), the loss or damage resulted from
such a commission or recklessness shall be deemed to be a tort.
Obligations
- Unconditional imperative: you have to do/must refrain
- More or less concrete
- Consequence/remedy if violated
o If X and Y then remedy
,Other sources of obligations
- Undue payment/solution indebiti
- Negotiorum gestio
- Unjust enrichment
- Property law actions
2. What is tort law?
Law as minimum standard?
- ‘’Thou shalt not kill’’
- ‘’Any human act which causes damage to someone else obliges the person by whose
fault it occurred, to compensate it.’’
Functions tort law
- Compensation
- Justice/fairness
o Morality
- Economic efficiency/welfare
o Reducing risks/dangers
o Contrary: freedom
- Regulation: policy considerations
3. The basic structure of torts
- Facts (+ supporting concepts)
- Rule (relevant criteria)
- Consequence: obligation
Donoghue v Stevenson
, Example
Article 1,902 Código Civil (Civil Code Spain) (1889)
The person who, as a result of an action or omission causes damage to another by his fault
of negligence shall be obliged to repair the damage caused.
Action or omission Did not check for snails
Fault or negligence Could check and should check
Causes (result of…) As result of omission, snail in bottle, leading
to…
Damage Nervous shock
Obligation to repair damage caused Manufacturer must pay damages
4. Families of tort law
General rule in art. 1902 Spanish code French approach
French law
- Art. 1240 CC
- ‘’Any human act which causes damage to someone else obliges the person by whose
fault it occurred, to compensate it.’’
English law
- Negligence
- Breach of statutory duty
- Trespass
- Conversion
- Defamation
- Infringement on (IP) rights
Specific tort: battery
Specific tort: trespass to land
