Tort law worksheet with answers

When two tortfeasors cause the same indivisible damage, the claimant can usually:

1. ASue only if both are joined in one claim
2. BRecover only half from each of them
3. CSue only the one who acted first
4. DRecover the full damages from either of them

To bring a private claim for public nuisance, a claimant must show:

1. ASpecial damage beyond that suffered by the public in general
2. BThat a criminal conviction has been obtained
3. CAn interest in land next to the place where the nuisance occurs
4. DThat the defendant intended to cause harm

Which three elements must a claimant usually prove in negligence?

1. AFault, punishment and apology
2. BIntention, motive and harm
3. CDuty of care, breach of that duty and damage caused by the breach
4. DContract, breach and loss

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. AStrictly liable for any harm from drugs
2. BNegligent, because harm occurred in hospital
3. CNot negligent, judged by the knowledge available at the time
4. DNegligent, judged by the medical knowledge available at trial

A firefighter is injured by a heavy jack in an unsuitable lorry rushed to rescue a woman trapped under a vehicle. Under Watt v Hertfordshire CC, the fire authority was:

1. AStrictly liable for injuries to employees
2. BNegligent, because it used an unsuitable vehicle
3. CNegligent, because firefighters must never take risks
4. DNot negligent, because saving life justified the risk

Pure economic loss caused by negligent acts is:

1. ARecoverable only where the defendant's conduct was also a criminal offence of some kind
2. BGenerally not recoverable, with exceptions such as negligent misstatement
3. CAlways recoverable
4. DRecoverable only for companies

A "novus actus interveniens" can:

1. ATurn a civil claim into a criminal one when the intervening act is an offence
2. BIncrease the damages owed
3. CCreate a new duty of care
4. DBreak the chain of causation between the defendant's breach and the harm

Two children see their father collapse and die from a heart attack, long after a hospital negligently failed to diagnose his heart disease. In Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (2024), the Supreme Court held that:

1. AThey were primary victims of the hospital's negligence
2. BThe hospital owed them no duty as secondary victims
3. COnly their mother could claim for their shock
4. DThey could recover because they witnessed the death