{UAH} BAR PRE-ENTRY MOCK DRILLS- The Law of Torts

BAR PRE-ENTRY MOCK DRILLS- The Law of Torts

⭕️1. What do you understand by the term trespass to land?
✅This is the unlawful entry on the land in the possession of another.

⭕️2. Who can sue for trespass to land?
✅A person who is in actual(de facto) or constructive possession of land can sue for trespass.

⭕️3. What does the term continuing trespass mean in the law of trespass to land?
✅Continuing trespass means a situation where a person wrongfully leaves or places a chattel on the land of another despite receiving notice of his actions constituting trespass.

⭕️4. A police officer had an arrest warrant for Jjunju Gilbert and went to his home where he arrested Gilbert. After the arrest, he searched Gilbert's entire premises looking for incriminating evidence without a search warrant. Under what principle would the police officer be held liable?
✅Under the principle of trespass ab initio.

⭕️5. When can one be held liable for trespass on the highway?
✅When a person uses the highway in an unreasonable and unjustified manner that interferes with public use.

⭕️6. What do you understand by the term license in regards to trespass to land?
✅A license refers to permission or authority given to a person to enter on or use another's land.

⭕️7. In a cause of action for trespass to goods, which term is used where a party claims the specific recovery of goods and services?
✅Detinue

⭕️8. What are the most important ingredients of the tort or negligence?
✅Existence of a duty of care on the part of the defendant.
✅Breach of the duty of care by the defendant.
✅Causation
✅Damage or injury caused to the plaintiff.

⭕️9. In your own words, explain the neighbor principle in Donogue v Stevenson.
✅This is the common law principle that one must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that could reasonably be foreseen as likely to injure one's neighbour.

⭕️10. Describe the factors that help in determining duty of care in negligence.
✅The foreseeability of harm to the plaintiff.
✅The degree of certainty of the injury suffered by the plaintiff.
✅Proximity(Closeness of the connection between the defendant's conduct and the plaintiff's injury)
✅The moral blame attached to the defendant's conduct.
✅The extent of the burden to the defendant.
✅The availability, cost and prevalence of insurance for the risk involved.
✅The policy of preventing future harm.

⭕️11. Distinguish between causation and remoteness of damages.
✅Causation is the relationship between the defendant's conduct and the plaintiff's injury.
✅Remoteness of damages is a principle that limits the amount of damages a claimant is entitled to; to only those that are casually linked to the injury caused against him.

⭕️12. When determining causation, which test is used?
✅The but for test.

⭕️13. What do you understand by the term product liability?
✅This is the legal liability a manufacturer or trader incurs for producing or selling a defective product which causes harm to a consumer.

⭕️14. Explain the duty of care of a manufacturer of a commodity.
✅ A manufacturer has a duty to prevent injury or damage arising as a result of a fault or defect of his product(s).

⭕️15. What is the distinction between assault and battery?
✅Assault is the unlawful apprehension of fear on the person of another.
✅Battery is the unlawful application of force on the person of another.

⭕️16. What must a plaintiff show to prove assault?
✅That there was a positive act by the defendant.
✅That the act caused reasonable apprehension of fear in the person of the plaintiff.

⭕️17. State the reason for the need for consent from a patient before treatment.
✅To exclude the doctor from liability for a potential action in battery.

⭕️18. Moses was locked in his room by Tom for two hours to prevent him from attending his friend's birthday party. What is Moses' cause of action against Tom?
✅False imprisonment.

⭕️19. Who bears the burden of proof in the tort of false impersonment?
✅The defendant has the burden to justify the imprisonment.

⭕️20. Distinguish between malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.
✅Malicious prosecution is the setting of criminal law in motion without reasonable and justifiable cause and without intent to meet the ends of justice.
✅False imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of a person's movement.

⭕️21. Define reasonable and probable cause.
✅ This is a justified belief that a person committed an act or omission constituting the actus reus of an offense.

⭕️22. In trespass to person, there exists mental suffering which results into nervous shock. Define nervous shock in the law of torts.
✅Nervous shock is a psychiatric injury suffered by a person as a result of the intentional or negligent acts and or omissions of another.

⭕️23. Rutaro led to the imprisonment of Peter in Nyamushekera Prison in Bushenyi in 2001 and Peter instituted proceedings against Rutaro for false imprisonment in the High Court of Mbarara in 2017. Which defense can Rutaro raise in the preliminary stage of the proceedings?
✅The suit is time barred.(Time limitation)

⭕️24. Define the tort of defamation.
✅This is the publication of false statements that have a tendency of lowering the reputation of a person to whom they refer before the right thinking members of the society.

⭕️25. What is the relevance of defamation as a cause of action?
✅To protect people's reputation.

⭕️26. What must a plaintiff who alleges defamation prove in order to have the defendant held liable?
✅That there was publication of a statement by the defendant.
✅That the statement was false.
✅That the statement has a tendency of lowering the reputation of the person to whom it refers before the right thinking members of the society.
✅That the statement referred to the plaintiff.

⭕️27. Define innuendo according to common law.
✅An innuendo refers to a statement that has hidden meaning.

⭕️28. Mary is accused of talking to her lawyer about Gabby's habits and conduct. Gabby considers this defamatory. What would be Mary's available defense?
✅Privileged communication.

⭕️29. What amounts to publication in the tort of defamation?
✅Publication is the communication of the statement in issue to a third party or a party other than the plaintiff(the individual to whom the alleged defamatory statement refers)

⭕️30. It is an available defense to one to plead justification or truth in a defamation suit. Where does the burden of proof for the defense lie and why?
✅The burden of proof for the defense of justification lies on the defendant BECAUSE in a suit for defamation, the alleged defamatory statement is presumed false.
🍎This presumption is rebuttable by evidence of its truth.

⭕️31. Give any two circumstances where a statement is not actionable however defamatory or malicious it may be.
✅Where the statement is made on the floor of parliament.
✅Where the statement is made by a judicial officer in the course of judicial proceedings.
✅Where it is a communication between an advocate and his client during litigation.

⭕️32. What is injury without impact? Which test has been formulated by court for this cause of action?
✅Injury without impact is a situation where the plaintiff suffers injury due to the positive act of the defendant without any physical or actual bodily contact.
✅The test formulated was the foreseeability test.

⭕️33. Who can bring a cause of action under injury without impact?
✅Primary victim
✅Secondary victim

⭕️34. It is a general rule that there is no duty on a person to take action in order to prevent harm befalling others. However just like every general rule, there are exceptions to it. What are they?
✅Where a statute imposes such a duty.
✅Where the defendant created the peril.
✅Where there was an undertaking to act by the defendant.
✅Where there exists a special relationship between the defendant and the victim.
✅Where the defendant has control over the third party who causes damage to the claimant.

⭕️35. What is the general rule for the award of damages?
✅The general rule is that the claimant is entitled to damages that can reasonably place him in the same position he would have been in had the tort not been committed.

⭕️36. What is meant by the term remoteness of damages?
✅This is the principle that limits the amount of damages to only those that are casually linked to the injury caused against the plaintiff.

⭕️37. What must be proved for a person to be held liable for contributory negligence?
✅That there was a fault or negligence on the part of the plaintiff.
✅That the injury about which the plaintiff complains resulted from the particular risk to which his own negligence exposed him.

⭕️38. What must be put across for one to succeed with the defense of voluntary assumption of risk?
✅That the plaintiff freely and voluntarily consented to the risk causing the injury complained of.
✅That the consent was based on full knowledge of the nature and extent of the risk.

⭕️39. Under which law may the families of the persons who died in the Lake Victoria boat accident bring death of their people as a cause of action?
✅Under Section 5 of the Law Reform(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

⭕️40. While shopping in Stairway Supermarket, Jonas slipped on the grapes on the floor in the produce department. He broke his leg and hit his head heavily on a metal rail. On that day, the store was short of staff and a produce attendant was assigned to help with that area. Other customers are willing to testify that floor in the produce area was increasingly messy throughout the day. Under which principle would the manager be held liable for the produce attendant's acts/omissions?
✅The principle of vicarious liability.

⭕️41. Can an employer be held liable for the acts and or omissions of an independent contractor? Give a reason to suppport your answer.
✅No
BECAUSE
🍎There exists no employee/employer relationship.
🍎The employer has no control over the way the independent contractor executes his work.
🍎The independent contractor basically works for his own benefit.

⭕️42. Which tests have been developed to prove/master servant relationship so as to render the employer liable under vicarious liability?
✅The integration test
✅The control test
✅The multiple test
✅The entrepreneur test

⭕️43. Briefly explain the rule in Rylands v Fletcher.
✅The rule is that a person who for his own purposes brings on his land or collects and keeps there anything likely to do damage if it escapes does so at his own peril; if it escapes he is prima facie answerable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape.

⭕️44. What should be established for a case to fall under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?
✅That the defendant brought onto his land a thing for his own benefit.
✅That the thing is for some special use and it brings with it increased danger.
✅That the thing is likely to do mischief and is potentially dangerous once it escapes.
✅That the thing escaped and caused damage to the plaintiff.

⭕️45. What are the defenses for a suit brought under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?
✅Act of God.
✅Intervening acts of a third party.
✅Contributory negligence
✅Voluntary assumption of risk.
✅Statutory authority

⭕️46. What is the liability under the scienter rule?
✅A person who keeps an animal with knowledge of its vicious character and nature is strictly liable for the damage/injury caused once it escapes.

⭕️47. When can one be held liable under the scienter rule?
✅When an animal kept by him with knowledge of its vicious character escapes and causes damage to another person.

⭕️48. Who of the two is the proper defendant under the scienter rule; the owner or the possessor of an animal?
✅The possessor of an animal.

⭕️49. Briefly explain how one is held liable for fire escape.
✅ A man is liable for damage done by fire originating from his property where the fire resulted from his negligence and no justification could be given for the cause the fire.

⭕️50. What do you understand by the term nuisance?
✅This is an unreasonable and improper conduct which interferes with another's enjoyment or use of his land.

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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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