LAW 122 Lecture 3: Common Law, Statutory Law, General Duty and Modified Duty
Document Summary
Requires an occupier of premises to protect visitors from harm. Occupier is any person who has substantial control over premises. Visitor is any person who enters onto premises. Apartments, offices, elevators, vehicles, ships, trains and airplanes. May have multiple occupiers for the same premises. The law of occupier"s liability is complicated, partly because it differs between jurisdictions. The common law rules (which were made by judges) The statutory rules ( which were made by legislations) Legislator: person who makes laws; a member of a legislative body. Common law rules: it can lump together different types of people. For example, a person who breaks into an office is a trespasser, but so is a child who curiously wanders onto a construction site: it"s often difficult to distinguish between the different categories. Should the visitor"s ability to recover compensation for a loss depend upon the answer to that narrow question: a visitor"s status may change from one moment to the next.