Tort law worksheet with answers

Compensatory damages in tort generally aim to:

1. APut the claimant in the position they would have been in without the tort
2. BPunish the defendant for the wrongdoing
3. CDivide the loss equally between the parties
4. DPut the claimant in the position they would have been in if a promise had been kept

Defamation protects a person's:

1. APhysical safety
2. BProperty
3. CPrivacy of medical records only
4. DReputation

Private nuisance concerns:

1. AAny loud noise in a public place
2. BBreaking a contract with a neighbour
3. CUnreasonable interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land
4. DDamage to personal reputation

An occupier hires a reputable lift company to maintain a lift. The company's negligence causes an accident. Under Haseldine v Daw, the occupier is:

1. ALiable only if the lift is new
2. BNot liable, if it reasonably chose a competent contractor
3. CLiable for any defect on its premises
4. DLiable, because maintenance is non-delegable

Contractors negligently cut a power cable, damaging the melt in a factory's furnace and stopping further production. In Spartan Steel v Martin, the factory recovered:

1. AAll profits lost while the power was off
2. BOnly the cost of repairing the cable
3. CNothing, because all the losses were economic and none was physical damage
4. DThe damaged melt and its lost profit, but not profit on further melts

A doctor builds a consulting room next to a confectioner whose noisy machines had operated for years without complaint. Can the confectioner defend a nuisance claim by saying the doctor "came to the nuisance"?

1. ANo, because doctors have special protection
2. BYes, the doctor accepted the noise by building there
3. CNo, coming to the nuisance is not a defence
4. DYes, because the machines were used first

A petrol station kiosk attendant racially abuses a customer, follows him outside and assaults him. In Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets, the employer was:

1. ANot liable, because violence was not part of his job
2. BVicariously liable, as the assault was closely connected to his job of serving customers
3. CLiable only if it had trained him poorly
4. DNot liable, because the assault took place outside the kiosk and after the conversation ended

The defence of "illegality" (ex turpi causa) in tort means that:

1. AThe defendant cannot be sued if the defendant's own conduct towards the claimant was itself a criminal offence
2. BOnly the state can bring the claim
3. CA claimant may be barred from recovering where the claim arises from their own serious illegal conduct
4. DEvery claimant with a criminal record loses