Tort law worksheet with answers

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

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

An employer can be liable for torts committed by an employee during their work. This is called:

1. AContributory negligence
2. BStrict liability for all acts
3. CVicarious liability
4. DNovus actus interveniens

False imprisonment is:

1. ABlocking one of several routes a person wants to take, however briefly
2. BUnlawfully and completely restricting a person's freedom of movement
3. CRefusing to let someone enter your house
4. DWrongly reporting someone to the police

Strict liability means a defendant can be liable:

1. AOnly for criminal acts
2. BOnly if they acted intentionally
3. COnly if they broke a contract
4. DWithout proof of fault

The Bolam test applies to:

1. AThe standard of care expected of professionals such as doctors
2. BDefamation defences
3. CThe remoteness of damage
4. DOccupiers' liability to trespassers

Workmen leave an open manhole with paraffin lamps. A boy knocks a lamp in, causing an unexpected explosion and burns. In Hughes v Lord Advocate, the defendants were:

1. ALiable, because burns were a foreseeable type of harm
2. BNot liable, because the explosion was unforeseeable
3. CLiable only for half of the damage
4. DNot liable, because the boy was a trespasser

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

A tannery spills small amounts of solvent over many years. It seeps underground and contaminates a water company's borehole, which nobody could have foreseen. In Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather:

1. AThe water company was barred by contributory negligence
2. BThe tannery was not liable, because the type of damage was not foreseeable
3. CThe tannery was liable, because Rylands liability is strict and needs no foreseeability
4. DThe tannery was liable in negligence instead