LAW 1507 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Australian Border Force, Firecracker, William Blackstone
30 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
TORTS LECTURE 1 THURSDAY 15 TH
MARCH 2018 WEEK 3
INTENTIONAL TORTS: TRESSPASS TO THE PERSON
She likened starting Torts to riding a bike- you fall of you get back on again,
referring to her sister: “I laugh and I watch her try.”
Her sense of humour is kind of dry, sarcastic funny
When doing the readings think of problem questions to those readings and bring to
the tutorial
Some dude kept being bad and asking stupid questions and interrupting she told
him to be quiet a couple of times but then he did it again and she told him to leave
and he called her an autocrat
Battery- an interference with someone’s person
Assault- interference with someone’s peace of mind (apprehend that something is
going to happen; doesn’t have to be fear but have to have a belief that something is
going to happen.
False imprisonment- Interference with someone’s liberty and personal interests
through intentional interference
If you intended to do something to someone even if not to inflict harm you are still
liable under trespass to the person
Action must be voluntarily e.g. voluntarily moving an arm and hitting a person
Difference between trespass and negligence
Trespass the original form of action against someone else but it’s hard to remedy
because that trespass has to be direct
Action under case of trespass- Requires fault under the person and has to inflict
damage
Negligence can be direct or indirect
1
Melissa Sparrow (a1668063)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Action on the case of trespass- evolved into negligence
You don’t have to say action on the case just say trespass or negligence
First assignment is purely about trespass to the person not negligence
Battery- Three elements necessary-
- Direct physical act or contact
- Interfering with the person of the plaintiff
- Accompanied by fault (Intention)
- Fault does not equal moral culpability
- There doesn’t need to be harm, touching someone is a battery
There can be a series of events leading to contact
Scott v Shepherd (1773) 2 W Blackstone- the defendant threw a firecracker into a
crowd, hit the plaintiff, struck him in the eye and took his eye out. It had passed
through three other hands during the process so it wasn’t technically direct however
they determined that the injury arose from the force of the original act. Compulsive
necessity influenced the others to throw the firecracker
Difference between a direct and indirect act is the difference between assault and
trespass
Reynolds v Clarke (1726)- Direct and indirect- if you see a log on the road pick it
up and throw it onto the road and it hit a person on a horse that is direct so it’s
battery not negligence
McHale v Watson (1964)- Trespass to the person tied to negligence- Barry Watson
aged 12 sharpened steal and threw it at a fence post but it instead hit the plaintiff in
the eye and took her eye out. The argument is that it was not battery because it
wasn’t direct but it arose from the force of the original act
Fault- The person committing fault had to have reckless indifference
2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
She likened starting torts to riding a bike- you fall of you get back on again, referring to her sister: i laugh and i watch her try. Her sense of humour is kind of dry, sarcastic funny. When doing the readings think of problem questions to those readings and bring to the tutorial. Assault- interference with someone"s peace of mind (apprehend that something is going to happen; doesn"t have to be fear but have to have a belief that something is going to happen. False imprisonment- interference with someone"s liberty and personal interests through intentional interference. If you intended to do something to someone even if not to inflict harm you are still liable under trespass to the person. Action must be voluntarily e. g. voluntarily moving an arm and hitting a person. Trespass the original form of action against someone else but it"s hard to remedy because that trespass has to be direct.
