Tackling Tort Law Revision

I have experienced some demand for teaching this subject at many levels-A Level, Degree and Post Graduate level. In all of these situations I have found that the students find some topics to be very demanding in terms of case law and some legislation such as the Defamation Act. In addition there are some big picture concepts to manage for essays.

The first thing to understand is that a tort is a civil wrong and there are many definitions to answer. These definitions require a lot of work because they are multi-layered. Take for example the definition of the duty of care, the first part of negligence, an area of law where the carelessness of a defendant causes damages and so requires some corrective justice in terms of compensation. The duty of care is imposed on people whose actions have an impact on a claimant who has been injured or whose relatives have been killed. Many students learn the duty of care by rote without learning as well that it is a device designed to limit litigation so that there is no flood of claims overwhelming the court.

After the big picture comes the details. Caparo vs Dickman is the go to case for the three layers of a duty of care. There has to be an element of foreseeability, there has to be a relationship of proximity between the claimant and the defendant and in addition it must be fair just and reasonable to impose a duty of care on the defendant. This has been the guide for so many cases. In the case of Langley vs Dray it was established that there was a duty of care for drivers to all drivers and passengers and pedestrians on the road which was imposed on drivers.In the case of hospitals Bailey vs Ministry of Defence established that a hospital owed patients a duty of care. Once the student has this multi-layered set of definitions and applications then it gets easier. Each case has a principle and then the principle can be applied in different problem scenarios.

It is very important for the student to understand the policies behind the decisions of the court. So for example the court`s policy with regard to psychiatric injury is to limit the amount of claimants by imposing a number of control mechanisms. In the case of Alcock vs Chief Constable of Yorkshire victims were divided into two groups: primary and secondary. Then the court established that those claiming psychiatric harm/injury had to demonstrate: love and affection between the claimant and the victim, proximity of the claimant to the accident or aftermath and that the claimant must either see or hear the accident...or both. This restricted the amount of claimants who could make a claim.

Once the student settles into this pattern, then the student should go on to making the material as memorable as possible. This is vital to allow the student to remember the material. The next stage is to apply the material to an exam question.This is where the skill of the tutor comes in because the tutor can give amazing feedback and support when it comes to improving answers.