Tort law worksheet with answers

For a defamation claim, the statement must be defamatory, refer to the claimant, and be:

1. ARead by the claimant personally
2. BRepeated by at least two people
3. CPublished to at least one third party
4. DPublished in print or on television

In general, a person who hires an independent contractor is:

1. ALiable only if the contractor has no insurance
2. BAlways vicariously liable for the contractor's torts
3. CNot vicariously liable for the contractor's torts
4. DLiable for all torts committed in the same year

The tort of battery is:

1. AThe intentional and direct application of unlawful force to another person
2. BCausing another person to reasonably fear that unlawful force is about to be used
3. CMaking a false statement that harms someone's reputation
4. DCarelessly injuring another person on the road

Two 15-year-old girls fence with plastic rulers and one is injured in the eye. Under Mullin v Richards, the defendant's conduct is judged by the standard of:

1. AThe defendant's own understanding
2. BA reasonable 15-year-old
3. CA reasonable adult
4. DA reasonable teacher

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

A surgeon fails to warn a patient of a small risk of a serious complication. The patient would have had the operation anyway, but later. The risk materialises. In Chester v Afshar, the House of Lords held:

1. AThe surgeon was liable, modifying normal causation principles
2. BThe surgeon was liable only for the cost of the operation
3. CThe surgeon was not liable, as the "but for" test failed
4. DThe patient consented, so there was no claim

A man is prevented from walking along part of a bridge closed for an event, but is free to go back the way he came. In Bird v Jones, the court held:

1. AThere was false imprisonment, because the bridge was public
2. BThere was an assault, because he was blocked
3. CThere was no false imprisonment, because his freedom was not totally restricted
4. DThere was false imprisonment, because he could not continue the way he wanted to go

Residents complain of noise from a motor sports stadium that had been used for years and had planning permission. In Coventry v Lawrence, the Supreme Court held that:

1. APlanning permission was not in itself a defence, and damages instead of an injunction should be considered more flexibly
2. BPlanning permission was a complete defence to the nuisance claim
3. CCourts must always grant an injunction where nuisance is proved
4. DComing to the nuisance was a complete defence