TORT LAW EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS ALL CORRECT
What is vicarious liability? Why do we need it? - Answer-1) A situation where one
person (usually an employer) is responsible for the tort of another (usually the
employee)
2) It allows an injured claimant to sue the employee and the employer and discover
which is better placed to pay the compensation
What is the Salmond test? - Answer-Employers are vicariously liable when:
• An employee commits an unintentional tort
• The person committing the tort is an employee
• The tort occurs in the course of employment
What is the contract of service? Contract for? - Answer-1) An employee
2) An independent contractor
Who is an independent contractor? Liability? - Answer-1) A self-employed person who
is responsible for their own actions and can be sued by a victim of a tort committed by
them
2) No third party will be vicariously liable for the wrongdoings of an independent
contractor. An independent contractor is liable for own tort
What are the 4 key features of the control test? What does it determine? What case was
it first identified in? - Answer-1) Whether the employer had:
• The power to select the employee
• The right to control the method of working
• The right to suspend and dismiss
• The payment of wage
2) Whether the employer had control over the employee?
3) Hawley v Luminar Leisure (2006) — the club had control over what the bouncer did
and also over how he was to do it —> the club was vicariously liable for the assault the
bouncer had committed
What does the integration or organisation test provide? Give examples. Where was it
established? - Answer-1) • A worker will be an employee if their work is fully integrated
into the business (e.g. the master of a ship, a chauffeur or a newspaper staff reporter)
• If a person's work is only accessory to the business, that person is not an employee
(e.g. a pilot bringing a ship into port, a taxi driver and a freelance writer)
,2) Stevenson, Jordan and Harrison Ltd v McDonald and Evans (1952)
What is a 'tort'? Where does the term originate from? - Answer-• A civil wrong
• French word for "wrong"
• Who is claimant?
• Who is defendant? - Answer-• An injured victim of wrongdoing. They bring an action to
recover compensation for their loss/damage
• The person/business responsible for the loss/damage
What does claimant have to do? - Answer-• Prepare the claim and the initial evidence
• Suggest the amount of damages
What is a remedy? What are the two types of it? - Answer-1) An order made by a court
to enforce/satisfy a tort claim
2) • Damages - the payment of money as compensation for the loss/damage suffered
• Injunction - a court order addressed to the defendant to stop doing something
What does the judge decide? - Answer-• The liability
• The amount of damages
• If the winning party is entitled to the payment of their legal costs by losing party
What can appeal be made against? - Answer-• Liability
• Amount of damages awarded
What if claimant is underaged? - Answer-Parent/litigation friend takes the action on their
behalf
What is a standard of proof? Who is it on? - Answer-• On the balance of probabilities
• On the claimant
What are defences available? - Answer-• Dispute the case
• Suggest the claimant wholly or partly caused their own injury
What is the main point of tort law? - Answer-"Person has certain interests which others
have the obligation to respect"
What are the protected interests? - Answer-• Personal harm
• Physical
• Reputational harm (defamation: libel/slander)
• Personal freedom
• Harm to property
• Harm to financial interests
What are the main aims of tort law? - Answer-• To provide compensation to injured
victims
, • To achieve and provide justice for an injured victim
• It is morally fair that an injury causer should be required to pay for the suffering
caused, penalising a defendant
• Loss distribution - greater liablity should be imposed on businesses/companies whose
activities cause physical injury and damage
• To achieve policy aims of improving standards
• What is the compensation culture?
• What has the Compensation Act 2006 changed? - Answer-• Attitude to sue for even
the most trivial reasons/where only minor injury/damage has been caused
• It became an offence to run an unauthorised claims management company
What is the difference between tort law and contract law? - Answer-• Contract law -
previously entered contract
• Tort law - no formal relationship before the incident
What is a negligence? What must be proved? - Answer-• An act or a failure to act which
causes injury to another person/damage to their property
• Duty of care + breach of duty + damage caused
What was the Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)? What has it established? - Answer-• Beer
manufacturers were found liable for causing injury (snail in a bottle)
• The neighbour principle - the person who is owed a duty of care by the defendant. It is
anyone who could be injured by your act/omission
What is incremental? - Answer-Development of the law through cases
What is the Caparo v Dickman (1990) case? What has it established? - Answer-
Economic loss = injury/damage
What is a three-part (Caparo test)? Give case examples. - Answer-1) An update of the
neighbour principle
2) • Harm is reasonably foreseeable (Kent v Griffiths 2000 - the ambulance could
foresee that the claimant could have been injured if they arrive late)
• Proximity of relationship (Bourhill v Young 1943 - the dead motorcyclist did not owe a
duty of care to the claimant who suffered trauma+stillborn because of seeing the
motorcyclist dead in the accident)
• Fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty (Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
1990: the police don't owe a duty of care to the general public with whom they had no
previous dealing (no way of knowing who the victim might be; worse policing if claim is
successful)
What is Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire (2018)? What principle has it
established? - Answer-1) The police injured the old lady when arresting a suspect
2) • If there is an existing precedent, that should be followed
• Novel situation = use Caparo test
ANSWERS ALL CORRECT
What is vicarious liability? Why do we need it? - Answer-1) A situation where one
person (usually an employer) is responsible for the tort of another (usually the
employee)
2) It allows an injured claimant to sue the employee and the employer and discover
which is better placed to pay the compensation
What is the Salmond test? - Answer-Employers are vicariously liable when:
• An employee commits an unintentional tort
• The person committing the tort is an employee
• The tort occurs in the course of employment
What is the contract of service? Contract for? - Answer-1) An employee
2) An independent contractor
Who is an independent contractor? Liability? - Answer-1) A self-employed person who
is responsible for their own actions and can be sued by a victim of a tort committed by
them
2) No third party will be vicariously liable for the wrongdoings of an independent
contractor. An independent contractor is liable for own tort
What are the 4 key features of the control test? What does it determine? What case was
it first identified in? - Answer-1) Whether the employer had:
• The power to select the employee
• The right to control the method of working
• The right to suspend and dismiss
• The payment of wage
2) Whether the employer had control over the employee?
3) Hawley v Luminar Leisure (2006) — the club had control over what the bouncer did
and also over how he was to do it —> the club was vicariously liable for the assault the
bouncer had committed
What does the integration or organisation test provide? Give examples. Where was it
established? - Answer-1) • A worker will be an employee if their work is fully integrated
into the business (e.g. the master of a ship, a chauffeur or a newspaper staff reporter)
• If a person's work is only accessory to the business, that person is not an employee
(e.g. a pilot bringing a ship into port, a taxi driver and a freelance writer)
,2) Stevenson, Jordan and Harrison Ltd v McDonald and Evans (1952)
What is a 'tort'? Where does the term originate from? - Answer-• A civil wrong
• French word for "wrong"
• Who is claimant?
• Who is defendant? - Answer-• An injured victim of wrongdoing. They bring an action to
recover compensation for their loss/damage
• The person/business responsible for the loss/damage
What does claimant have to do? - Answer-• Prepare the claim and the initial evidence
• Suggest the amount of damages
What is a remedy? What are the two types of it? - Answer-1) An order made by a court
to enforce/satisfy a tort claim
2) • Damages - the payment of money as compensation for the loss/damage suffered
• Injunction - a court order addressed to the defendant to stop doing something
What does the judge decide? - Answer-• The liability
• The amount of damages
• If the winning party is entitled to the payment of their legal costs by losing party
What can appeal be made against? - Answer-• Liability
• Amount of damages awarded
What if claimant is underaged? - Answer-Parent/litigation friend takes the action on their
behalf
What is a standard of proof? Who is it on? - Answer-• On the balance of probabilities
• On the claimant
What are defences available? - Answer-• Dispute the case
• Suggest the claimant wholly or partly caused their own injury
What is the main point of tort law? - Answer-"Person has certain interests which others
have the obligation to respect"
What are the protected interests? - Answer-• Personal harm
• Physical
• Reputational harm (defamation: libel/slander)
• Personal freedom
• Harm to property
• Harm to financial interests
What are the main aims of tort law? - Answer-• To provide compensation to injured
victims
, • To achieve and provide justice for an injured victim
• It is morally fair that an injury causer should be required to pay for the suffering
caused, penalising a defendant
• Loss distribution - greater liablity should be imposed on businesses/companies whose
activities cause physical injury and damage
• To achieve policy aims of improving standards
• What is the compensation culture?
• What has the Compensation Act 2006 changed? - Answer-• Attitude to sue for even
the most trivial reasons/where only minor injury/damage has been caused
• It became an offence to run an unauthorised claims management company
What is the difference between tort law and contract law? - Answer-• Contract law -
previously entered contract
• Tort law - no formal relationship before the incident
What is a negligence? What must be proved? - Answer-• An act or a failure to act which
causes injury to another person/damage to their property
• Duty of care + breach of duty + damage caused
What was the Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)? What has it established? - Answer-• Beer
manufacturers were found liable for causing injury (snail in a bottle)
• The neighbour principle - the person who is owed a duty of care by the defendant. It is
anyone who could be injured by your act/omission
What is incremental? - Answer-Development of the law through cases
What is the Caparo v Dickman (1990) case? What has it established? - Answer-
Economic loss = injury/damage
What is a three-part (Caparo test)? Give case examples. - Answer-1) An update of the
neighbour principle
2) • Harm is reasonably foreseeable (Kent v Griffiths 2000 - the ambulance could
foresee that the claimant could have been injured if they arrive late)
• Proximity of relationship (Bourhill v Young 1943 - the dead motorcyclist did not owe a
duty of care to the claimant who suffered trauma+stillborn because of seeing the
motorcyclist dead in the accident)
• Fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty (Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
1990: the police don't owe a duty of care to the general public with whom they had no
previous dealing (no way of knowing who the victim might be; worse policing if claim is
successful)
What is Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire (2018)? What principle has it
established? - Answer-1) The police injured the old lady when arresting a suspect
2) • If there is an existing precedent, that should be followed
• Novel situation = use Caparo test
