Tort law worksheet with answers

What is a tort?

1. AA tax on damages
2. BA wrong punished by the state through fines, imprisonment or community service orders
3. CA civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, that gives a right to compensation
4. DA type of contract

Under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, an occupier owes lawful visitors:

1. AThe common duty of care
2. BA duty only to warn of hidden dangers
3. CStrict liability for any injury on the premises
4. DNo duty unless there is a contract

Statements made by MPs during debates in the UK Parliament are protected in defamation by:

1. AAbsolute privilege
2. BThe public interest defence
3. CQualified privilege
4. DThe defence of honest opinion

A solicitor negligently delays preparing a new will, and the client dies before signing. The intended beneficiaries lose their gifts. In White v Jones, the solicitor:

1. AWas not liable, because the will was never signed
2. BWas liable to the disappointed beneficiaries
3. CWas not liable, because there was no contract with them
4. DWas liable only to the client's estate

In Bolitho v City and Hackney HA, the House of Lords added to the Bolam test that the professional opinion relied on must:

1. ABe capable of withstanding logical analysis
2. BBe held by most doctors in the country
3. CBe accepted by the patient
4. DBe written in a medical textbook

Patients are paralysed by anaesthetic contaminated through invisible cracks in glass ampoules, a risk unknown to doctors at the time. Under Roe v Minister of Health, the hospital was:

1. ANot negligent, judged by the knowledge available at the time
2. BNegligent, because harm occurred in hospital
3. CNegligent, judged by the medical knowledge available at trial
4. DStrictly liable for any harm from drugs

After Barker v Corus held that liability under the Fairchild exception was proportionate to each defendant's share of the risk, Parliament responded for mesothelioma cases by:

1. ARequiring proof of "but for" causation in all cases
2. BCreating a state compensation fund to replace tort claims against employers and their insurers entirely
3. CAbolishing claims for asbestos disease
4. DMaking each responsible person liable for the whole damage, under the Compensation Act 2006

Young offenders escape while their officers sleep, and damage a yacht nearby. In Home Office v Dorset Yacht Co, the House of Lords held:

1. ANo duty, because the damage was done by third parties acting of their own free will
2. BNo duty, because the Home Office is part of the Crown
3. CThe yacht owner was contributorily negligent
4. DA duty could be owed, because the officers had control over the offenders