This ppt will help you if you are doing law under kslu

1. LAW OF TORTS
II SEMESTER
Parvathi Balachandran

2. Concepts you need to know
◦ Classification of Laws
◦ Public Law: Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Criminal Law
◦ Private Law: Law of Torts, Contract Law, IPR
◦ Substantive Laws
◦ Procedural Laws
◦ Civil Law
◦ Criminal Law

3. LEGAL MAXIMS & TERMINOLOGY
◦ Ubi jus ibi remedium
◦ Restitutio in integrum
◦ Damnum sine injuria
◦ Injuria sine damnum
◦ Jus in rem
◦ Jus in personam
◦ Damages

4. TORT: Meaning & Definition
◦ Tort (tortum; delict)
◦ Tort & Contract
◦ Tort & Quasi Contract
◦ Tort & Crime

5. General Elements in Torts/General Principles of
Liability/Essential Elements of Torts/Foundations of
Tortious Liability
Two theories with regard to the basic principle of liability in torts
• All injuries done by one person to another are torts unless there is some justification recognised by law
• The pigeon-hole theory according to which there is a definite number of torts outside which liability in tort does not exist
Act
Omission
Voluntary and Involuntary Acts
Wrongfulness and liability depend on the surrounding circumstances
Damnum sine injuria/Injuria Sine Damnum
Intention
Negligence
Reasonable man
Malice
Not essential to the maintenance of an action for tort
Exceptions: Defamation, Malicious prosecution etc.,

6. ◦ Wrongful Act
◦ Legal Damage
◦ Injuria Sine Damnum
◦ Cases: Ashby v. White
◦ Marzetti v. Williams
◦ Damnum Sine Injuria
◦ Cases:
◦ Mogul Steamship Company v. McGregor Gow & Co.
◦ Gloucester Grammar School Master’s Case
◦ Chasemore v. Richard
◦ Mayor of Bradford Corporation v. Pickles
◦ Legal Remedy

7. Intention, Motive, Negligence, Recklessness
◦ Invasion of a Civil Right Legal Wrong Legal Damage Legal Remedy
◦ Every person will be liable for the natural, ordinary and necessary consequences of their act.
◦ Malfeasance, Misfeasance, Nonfeasance

8. TRESSPASS TO PERSON & PROPERTY
◦ Writ of trespass
◦ k/a that fertile mother of actions by Maitland on account of its prominenance
◦ Types of trespass: Land, Goods, Person
◦ Trespass to person: Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment
◦ Two Rules of Trespass: i.) Burden of Proof ii.) Actual damage not an essential
element

9. ASSAULT
◦ Attempt/threat(Intentional)
◦ To do corporeal hurt to another
◦ Present ability and intention
◦ Reasonable apprehension of immediate violence
◦ IPC: Criminal force
◦ Cases:
◦ Stephens v. Myers
◦ Read v. Coker
◦ Bavisetti Venkata Surya Rao v. Nandipatti Muttaya

10. BATTERY
◦ Intentional(Wrongful)
◦ Direct application of physical force
◦ To the person of another
◦ Cases:
◦ Coward v. Baddeley
◦ Ashton v. Jennings
◦ Sitaram v. Jaswant Singh

11. False Imprisonment
A tort of strict Liability
False imprisonment is the total restraint of the liberty of a person, for, however short a time, without lawful excuse.
To constitute this wrong two things are necessary: (i) Total restraint of the liberty of a person( actual/physical) (ii) The
detention must be unlawful
Cases:
Bird v. Jones
Merring v. Graham White Aviation Co. Ltd.,
Herring v. Boyle
John Lewis & Co. v. Times

12. Residuary Trespass to the Person
Cases:
Wilkinson v. Downton
Janvier v. Sweene
Defences
Reasonable condition imposed by occupiers of premises
Cases:
Herd v. Weardale Co. Ltd.
Robinson v. Balmain Ferry Co. Ltd
Reasonable and honest belief in the existence of circumstances which would justify arrest
Arrest by Public Officer (Sec.41(1) Code of Criminal Procedure,1973
Arrest by Private Person (Sec.43 Code of Criminal Procedure,1973
.

13. Justification in Action for Trespass: It is important to remember that burden to prove justification is on the defendant.
The grounds are as follows:
(i) Leave and Licence
(ii) Private Defence
(iii) Expulsion of Trespasser
(iv) Retaking of Goods
(v) Lawful Correction
(vi) Preservation of Public Peace
(vii) Statutory Authority
Damages

14. DEFAMATION
Defamation is the act by which a person is exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule/ an act which
injures a person’s trade, business etc.
Publication or broadcast of a false statement of fact that seriously harms someone’s
reputation(implies communication to at least one person other than the person defamed). It
applies to printed statements and spoken statements, both online and offline.
Defamation

19. Case:
Youssoupoff v. Metro Godwyn Pictures Ltd.,
Dictation to a typist: Libel or slander
Mere abuse(will not amount to civil defamation)

21. • Right to have reputation
preserved inviolate
• Jus in rem
• Balancing of interests?
• Relation to Fundamental
Right?

22. members of the society.
Case:
Mawe v. Piggott (Irish priest)

28. Essential Ingredients of Defamation
• Publication/Broadcast(implies communication to at least one person other than the person defamed)
• Letters(Cases): Huth v. Huth; Mrs. Theaker v. Richardson
• Republication and Repetition is no excuse
• Malice
• Defamatory Meaning: ( i.) Words prima facie defamatory (ii.) Words capable of both innocent or defamatory
meaning(Innuendo)
• Cases:
• Boydell v. Jones(“an honest lawyer”)
• Bishop v. Latimer(“How lawyer B treats his clients”)
• Trolley v. Fry(amateur golf champion-caricature-chocolate company)
• Sim v. Stretch
• Words must have reference to the plaintiff
• Cases:
• Anson v. Stuart(description in newspaper-one-eyed,diabolic-no reference to plaintiff by name)
• Monson v. Tussaud’s Ltd.,

29. ◦ Unintentional Defamation
◦ Statements not intended to refer to the plaintiff at all
◦ (I) Statements intended to refer to a fictitious character, but in fact defamatory of an existing person
◦ Case:
◦ Hulton and Co. v. Jones
◦ Principle: Liability for libel does not depend on the intention of the defamer but to the fact of defamation
◦ (II) Statements truthfully made of an existing person, but in fact, defamatory of another existing person
◦ Cases:
◦ Newstead v. London Express Newspaper Ltd.,
◦ Cassidy v. Daily Mirror Newspapers Ltd.,

30. ◦ Group Defamation
◦ Defamation of a class is generally not actionable( eg., all lawyers are dishonest)
◦ Innocent Dissemination by way of selling or distributing newspapers, books, pamphlets etc.,
◦ Such persons will be absolved of liability if they can prove: (i) they did not know that the book or paper contained the libel
complained of (ii) that such want of knowledge was not due to any negligence on their part
◦ Cases:
◦ Emmens v. Pottle
◦ Vizetelly v. Mudie’s Select Library

31. ◦ Defences to Defamation
◦ Justification by truth
◦ An absolute justification to a civil action for defamation
◦ In criminal law truth is not an absolute justification (only if it is made for public benefit or
good)
◦ Where this plea is raised (by the defendant) the burden is on the defendant to prove the truth
of the imputation in question
◦ Fair Comment
◦ A statement of opinion on truthful facts, made in public interest, untainted by malice(fair).
◦ Rolled up plea

32. ◦ Privilege
◦ Kinds of privilege: Absolute privilege and qualified privilege
◦ Absolute Privilege: absolute protection to statements made by persons on certain occasions despite
being false and malicious
◦ Attaches to
◦ Parliamentary proceedings
◦ Judicial Proceedings
◦ Military or naval proceedings
◦ State proceedings
◦ Judicial Report

33. ◦ Qualified Privilege: Privilege subject to malice(malice will destroy QP)
◦ Communications made in the course of duty
◦ Communications made in the course of confidential relationship
◦ Communications made in self-protection
◦ Communications made in protection of common interest
◦ Communications made to persons in public position
◦ Fair Reports

34. Malicious Prosecution
• Foundation of an action for malicious prosecution lies in abuse of the process of the court by wrongfully setting the
law in motion. It is designed to discourage the perversion of the machinery of justice.
• Every person has the freedom to bring criminals to justice
• There is also need to check false accusations against innocent persons
• False accusations lead to unnecessary vexation, worry, annoyance, inconvenience, expenses
• Action for malicious prosecution can lie only for criminal proceedings maliciously instituted
• Action for malicious prosecution not allowed for prior unjust civil case because in such instances justice can be done
by awarding the injured party costs

35. Basis of Malicious Prosecution
• Injury to character of Plaintiff
• Injury to person
• Injury to property
Saville v. Roberts- three types of damages offer sufficient ground for this action:
i. damage to a person’s fame
ii. Where a person is put in danger to their life, limb, liberty
iii. Damage to their property( forced to expend money to get oneself acquitted of the charges/crime of
which they are accused)

36. The Plaintiff must show:
• Firstly, prosecution by the defendants i.e., that the law was set in motion against him on a criminal charge. The
defendant should have been actively instrumental in doing so. It is not necessary that the defendant is party to the
proceedings(i.e., even if the indictment is in the name of the state).
• Secondly, prosecution determined in favour of the plaintiff(prior criminal proceedings terminated in the plaintiff’s
favour)
• Thirdly, it was without reasonable and probable cause(allegations in complaint were false to according to the
defendant’s knowledge). On the other hand a reasonable ground to believe(bona fide belief) the plaintiff had
committed the crime will augur in favour of the defendant.
• Fourthly, it was malicious. Absence of malice is exonerating (Hicks v. Faulkner)
• Note that the onus of proving each of these is on the plaintiff!!!!