Question 1

The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from which case?

Accepted Answer

Collins v Wilcock is a key case that provides definitions for the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment, clarifying the nature of unlawful touching and the concept of personal space in the context of battery.

Question 2

Which of the following are characteristics of the trespass to the person torts? Please select all that apply.

Accepted Answer

Trespass to the person torts require intentional harm and must directly and immediately cause harm. They are also actionable without proof of harm, meaning that a plaintiff can sue even if no actual harm occurred. Negligence is not sufficient to establish these types of torts, and they do not require proof of loss or damage.

Question 3

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name.
-Stephens v

Accepted Answer

As there are multiple cases with the name "Stephens", it is important to identify the full name of the opposing party in order to determine which case is being referred to. In this case, "Stephens v Myers" refers to a UK case heard in 1830 regarding a dispute over the ownership of a piece of land.

Question 4

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name.
-Wilkinson v

Accepted Answer

The case name is Wilkinson v Downton.

Question 5

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name.
-Iqbal v

Accepted Answer

The answer of Match For each of the following cases,...

Question 6

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name.
-Wainwright

Accepted Answer

Wainwright v Home Office is a well-known legal case involving issues of privacy and trespass to the person.

Question 7

Can silence ever amount to an assault in tort law?

Accepted Answer

Silence can amount to an assault in tort law if it is accompanied by other conduct that creates a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.

Question 8

Unlawful touching will only amount to a battery if it is hostile.

Accepted Answer

The unlawful touching need not be hostile to amount to a battery. Touching will only amount to a battery where it does not fall within the category of physical contacts 'generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of general life' (Goff LJ, Collins v Wilcock)

Question 9

A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under which article of the European Convention on Human Rights?

Accepted Answer

False imprisonment involves a violation of a person's right to liberty and security, which is protected under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 5 guarantees the right to liberty and security and sets out the circumstances under which individuals can be deprived of their liberty.

Question 10

Which rule did Lord Hoffmann say in Wainwright v Home Office should have 'no leading role in the modern law of tort'?

Accepted Answer

Lord Hoffmann stated that the rule in Wilkinson v Downton (also known as the "intentional infliction of emotional distress" tort) should have no leading role in the modern law of tort because it is not a recognized tort in most common law jurisdictions and is too vague in its application.

Question 11

Conduct which is 'in the particular circumstances … reasonable' is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by which section of the Act?

Accepted Answer

Section 1(3)(c) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 excludes conduct which is 'in the particular circumstances … reasonable' from being considered harassment, providing a defense for actions that might otherwise be interpreted as such under the Act.

Question 12

A competent adult may withhold their consent to any treatment, (including food) even if said treatment is in their best interests, or necessary to save their life.

Accepted Answer

A competent adult may withhold their consent to any treatment, (including food) even if said treatment is in their best interests or necessary to save their life. The law is clear that an individual has an absolute right to the inviolability of their body: 'an adult patient who … suffers from no mental incapacity has an absolute right to choose whether to consent to medical treatment, to refuse it, or to choose one rather than another of the treatments being offered. This right of choice is not limited to decisions which others might regard as sensible' (Lord Donaldson MR in Re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment [1993]). In reality, however, despite judicial rhetoric upholding an individual's right to self-determination, the capacity to withhold consent may be negated if some impairment or disturbance of mental functioning renders the individual unable to make a decision whether to consent to, or refuse, treatment. The common law position and the test of capacity more broadly has been enshrined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Question 13

Match the following definitions to the correct tort.
-'An act which causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful force on his person'

Accepted Answer

Assault is defined as an act which causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful force on his person. This means that the victim must have reasonably believed that they were in imminent danger of harm or offensive physical contact.

Question 14

Match the following definitions to the correct tort.
-'The actual infliction of unlawful force on another person'

Accepted Answer

The definition matches with battery, which is the actual infliction of unlawful force on another person. Assault is the threat of unlawful force, and false imprisonment is the unlawful confinement or restraint of a person.

Question 15

Match the following definitions to the correct tort.
-'The unlawful imposition of constraint on another's freedom of movement from a particular place'.

Accepted Answer

False imprisonment is the tort of unlawfully restraining or confining an individual's movements. It involves the deprivation of an individual's physical liberty or freedom of movement. Assault involves creating fear of physical harm (even if no physical contact is made), while battery involves physical harm or contact without the victim's consent.

Question 16

RaRa used to date Topsy. After they have broken up, RaRa posts a naked image of Topsy online in order to get back at her. Hufty advises Topsy that she wouldn't be able to use the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 because RaRa's actions do not amount to a 'course of conduct'. Is this true?

Accepted Answer

Following Law Society v Kordowski [2011] it appears that a single publication of a harassing statement or image online will amount to a 'course of conduct' where the defendant does so 'in the knowledge that such publications will inevitably come to [the claimant's] attention on more than one occasion and on each occasion cause them alarm and distress constitutes harassment under the PHA' (Tugendhat J at [61]).

Quiz 15: Intentional Interferences With the Person

The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from which case?

Which of the following are characteristics of the trespass to the person torts? Please select all that apply.

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name. -Stephens v

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name. -Wilkinson v

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name. -Iqbal v

Match For each of the following cases, complete the case name. -Wainwright