THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALLS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 266 0001 ZB DIPLOMA IN THE COMMON LAW LLB SCHEME A SCHEME B GRADUATE ENTRY ROUTE A GRADUATE ENTRY ROUTE B BSc DEGREES MANAGEMENT WITH LAW, ACCOUNTING WITH LAW, SOCIOLOGY WITH LAW Law of Tort Thursday 12 May 2011: 10.00 13.15 Candidates will have fifteen minutes during which they may read the paper and make rough notes ONLY in their answer books. They then have the remaining THREE HOURS in which to answer the questions. Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions. Candidates should answer all parts of a question unless otherwise stated. University of London 2011 Page 1 of 5
1. Aileen is a qualified nurse. She is on the books of the Seacole Agency, which pays her and is responsible for her national insurance payments. Hospitals contract with the agency for her services. Aileen is registered with the agency as a specialist orthopaedic nurse. In February 2009 she went to work at the Statin Hospital and was required by the hospital to work at nights in its orthopaedic ward. While on duty, she wore a uniform with the Statin logo on her blouse. One night in May 2009, Ben, who was recovering from an operation, complained of leg pain. Aileen had already called out the duty doctor three times and was reluctant to do so again. She spoke to Ben and decided in the light of what he told her that the problem was not serious and could wait until doctors came in the morning. In fact a nerve had become trapped and by the time he received treatment he had lost the full use of his leg. Before his operation Ben had been a 19-yearold professional footballer with good prospects with a major club. When he left hospital he was told that he would have to use crutches indefinitely. In January 2010 he was in a car that was swept into a river by unprecedented floods. The car floated downstream and struck a bridge. Ben was knocked out, suffering severe and permanently disabling head injuries. The medical experts are all agreed that the operation on his knee was correctly performed and the nerve damage was not a result of the operation. They are also agreed that he would almost certainly have been unable to escape from the car even if he had been fully fit. Advise Ben. 2. [T]he ordinary principles of negligence normally provide sufficient flexibility to ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained between claimant and defendant public authority that takes proper account of the latter s responsibilities to act in the public interest. (S. H. Bailey) Discuss the liability of public authorities in the tort of negligence in the light of this statement. 3. In order to be actionable as a nuisance, the relevant interference must be judged to be unreasonable. Unreasonableness is one of the key concepts in nuisance law. Unfortunately, it is also one of the key puzzles. (Steele, Tort Law) Discuss. Page 2 of 5
4. George is a coach driver employed by Safecoaches Ltd. He was driving in the late evening through semi-darkness along a road with a steep drop on the lefthand side. The coach swerved and went off the road, landing on its roof. Several passengers were killed, others were injured and trapped. Rescue services arrived quickly. Henry and Ivan, who live near the scene, offered to help. Henry was asked to stand on the roadside above the accident scene and help to haul up some of the injured passengers. Ivan, a clergyman, was asked to assist with comforting the injured who had been brought out of the vehicle and contacting relatives of the victims. An injured passenger, James, had suffered brain injuries and was taken to the Marstown Neurological Hospital. The information given to Ivan was unclear and he therefore told James s sister Kelly by text that he had been taken to the Marstown General Hospital with the other passengers. Kelly rushed to the General Hospital and could not find James. Three hours later she discovered where he was. When she arrived at the neurological hospital, she was told that James had died a few minutes earlier. He had briefly regained consciousness and had asked to see Kelly. George says that the coach just veered off the road, but he does not know why this happened. Investigators can find no sign of any mechanical faults. Advise, Henry, Ivan and Kelly, who have all suffered recognised psychiatric illnesses. 5. The Nemea Sports Club in the town of Nemea has been at the centre of controversy. For a long time its facilities had been of poor quality, but they have been available for low charges to local children, the elderly and disadvantaged groups. A group led by Heracles, a local businessman and owner of a sports clothing shop, is trying to take over the club. They want to upgrade the facilities so that they will be suitable for holding national and international sporting events, but for local residents the club would be available only at unsocial hours and at greatly increased charges. The Nemea Herald published a letter from Pindar reading, I have recently moved to Nemea. One of my reasons for the move was the availability of sports facilities. We have four sons who are mad keen on sport, but there is no way we could afford the charges proposed at the Sports Club. Heracles has a contemptible lack of interest in the feelings of local residents. He is only interested in those who can afford inflated prices for his second rate merchandise. Bunter runs a website, Couchpotato.org, which has a considerable following among people with no interest in sport. He blogged, I ve just been sent this link by a supporter. I haven t checked it out at all. One lot seems as stupid as the other. Discuss whether (a) Pindar and (b) Couchpato.org may be liable for defamation. Page 3 of 5
6. Alan owns a number of holiday cottages, which he lets out to visitors. Betty and Clive have booked one of these cottages. On the day before they were due to arrive, Alan discovered that the electric light in the bathroom was not working. He had difficulty in finding an electrician who could come at short notice. He had however noticed a card placed in the window of a local newsagents shop which read: For all electrical and other DIY problems. Fully qualified. Speedy service. Call Dave on mobile tel. 01234 56789. Alan called Dave who came promptly. After he had completed the work, he laid his heavy equipment on a shelf fixed to the wall in the bathroom. The shelf gave way and the equipment fell on Dave s leg, causing him serious injuries. Soon after arriving at the cottage Clive went for a shower and received a severe electric shock. Advise Alan as to his liability in tort to (a) Clive and (b) Dave. 7. The (fictitious) Explosives Industries (Safety Requirements) Regulations 2008 include the following provision: An employer shall ensure that, once in each calendar year, all employees who handle or otherwise come into contact with or are exposed to the effect of explosives shall undergo a medical examination. Richard has been employed at an explosives factory run by Semtex plc for two years. He was suffering from increasing deafness but had always managed to disguise his difficulties. He was however afraid that, if this were discovered, he would lose his job. He therefore persuaded his identical twin brother Stanley to take his place at the medical examination in 2010. While working at the factory, he suddenly collapsed and let a small quantity of explosive material fall into water. There was an explosion and Richard and his fellow worker Terry were knocked unconscious. Una, a receptionist, heard the explosion and rushed into the laboratory to help without putting on protective clothing or headgear. She was hit by a fall of plaster from the ceiling, which had been loosened by the explosion. It is agreed by all the medical experts that (i) Richard had collapsed because of a defective heart valve, (ii) this would have been discovered at a medical examination, (iii) the defect was a congenital condition and was not in any way caused by his work in the factory. Advise Richard, Terry and Una who have all suffered serious long-term personal injuries. Page 4 of 5
8. Alpha and Beta planned to rob a branch of the Dodgy Bank in Slumtown. They asked a friend Gamma to drive them to the scene. They knew that Gamma had a number of convictions for motoring offences and was at the time disqualified from driving. When they reached the scene, they asked Gamma to wait in a nearby side street with the engine running in order to make a quick getaway. The bank staff managed to raise the alarm and Alpha and Beta fled empty-handed. Alpha managed to get into the car, but Beta was only half in when Gamma panicked and set off. Beta was thrown out of the car and suffered serious injuries. Gamma drove at speed out of Slumtown. He saw Delta crossing the road some distance ahead and kept his hand on the horn as he sped towards him. Delta was panic stricken and stayed rooted to the spot. Eta, a pedestrian, saw what was happening and tried to pull Delta back. Gamma swerved at the last moment and almost avoided Delta and Eta, but struck them a glancing blow, knocking them over and causing serious injuries. After they left the town, Gamma set off for home driving within the speed limit. However, Alpha started arguing with Gamma about the way he had left Beta behind. Gamma s attention was distracted and he failed to notice a broken down van at the side of the road. He drove into it and caused serious injuries to Alpha, who was not wearing his seat belt at the time. Advise Alpha, Beta, Delta and Eta. END OF PAPER Page 5 of 5