Tort law worksheet with answers

Under section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013, a statement is not defamatory unless:

1. AThe claimant has lost money because of it
2. BIt was published in a newspaper or online
3. CThe defendant intended to harm the claimant or was reckless as to whether it would
4. DIt has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the claimant's reputation

In English law, the difference between libel and slander is that:

1. ALibel must be true, while slander must be false
2. BLibel is in permanent form, while slander is in a temporary form such as speech
3. CLibel concerns companies and public bodies, while slander concerns private individuals
4. DLibel is a crime, while slander is a tort

Exemplary (punitive) damages in English tort law aim to:

1. AReflect the claimant's injured feelings
2. BCompensate the claimant's financial loss
3. CPunish the defendant for outrageous conduct
4. DReturn any profit the claimant has lost

The "but for" test is used to establish:

1. ADuty of care
2. BFactual causation
3. CRemoteness of damage
4. DThe standard of care

A boarding-house warden employed by a school abuses the boys in his care. In Lister v Hesley Hall, the employer was:

1. ALiable only for its own negligent hiring
2. BNot liable, because the warden acted for himself
3. CNot liable, because abuse is never within the course of the warden's employment
4. DVicariously liable, because the abuse was closely connected with his duties

A council leaves an abandoned boat on its land. Two boys jack it up to repair it, and it falls and injures one. In Jolley v Sutton LBC, the council was:

1. ALiable, because the broad type of accident was foreseeable
2. BNot liable, because the boys' exact actions were unforeseeable
3. CLiable only to the boy who used the jack
4. DNot liable, because repairs are not play

A prisoner known to be a suicide risk kills himself in a police cell after officers leave the door hatch open. In Reeves v Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the House of Lords held:

1. AHis deliberate act broke the chain of causation
2. BHis deliberate act did not break the chain, because it was the very thing the duty aimed to prevent
3. CThe claim failed because of illegality
4. DThe police were not liable, because a sane adult's suicide is always a voluntary act breaking the chain

A man's leg is injured by a negligent driver. Later, robbers shoot the same leg and it is amputated. In Baker v Willoughby, the driver:

1. AWas liable only until the shooting
2. BWas released completely from liability by the robbers' later shooting
3. CWas liable for the amputation too
4. DRemained liable for the original disability after the shooting