FOUNDATION CERTIFICATE IN HUMANITIES, LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

INT0019
INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LAW AND THE ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM [2]

May 2011

Duration: TWO HOURS

Answer THREE questions

This is a closed note paper.

1. “The remedies for misrepresentation where one party misleads another into
contracting with him are convoluted and over-complex.”

There was an explosion in the Chemistry Department of Dexeter University. Several

students went up in flames and the scene was horrifying. It turns out that the suppliers
of the chemicals, Exchem Ltd., had carelessly supplied wrongly labelled chemicals.

Advise all of the following parties as to their potential claims in negligence.

(a) Dr. Flame, who organised the experiment and was watching on a video-link from another
campus at the time. He had a nervous breakdown because he blames himself for the accident.

(b) Mr Grabber, a university administrator, who was passing the chemistry room at the time of the
explosion and narrowly escaped physical injury. He had previously suffered from mental instability but
after the explosion became much worse.

(b) Helen, the mother of Imogen, one of the affected students, who was told of the accident by the
university by phone. She then visited the morgue seven hours later to see her daughter’s dead body and
now suffers from depression.

(c) Imogen’s boyfriend John, a fellow Chemistry student, who heard the explosion from a nearby
lecture theatre, and rushed to the scene , where he saw Imogen’s unconscious and burnt body. He has
had to give up his studies as he suffers recurrent nightmares about the accident and is afraid to sleep
and unable to enter the Chemistry Department building.

The duty of care in negligence now covers the situation where

psychiatric harm is foreseen as likely to be suffered by one standing in
the requisite degree of proximity.'
Critically examine this statement.

Discuss.

EITHER

(a) In 2010 Acme Aircraft Ltd. were negotiating with Britair plc to sell them an aircraft. After a not
very thorough check of their records, Acme told Britair that the aircraft had last been
completely serviced in 2009: in fact the service had been done in 2006. The
documentation provided by Acme to Britair would have revealed this fact, but
Britair did not bother to read it properly. Acme bought the aircraft for $2 million: had
they known the true facts they would have paid about $40,000 less. Shortly after the
aircraft was delivered, environmental legislation was unexpectedly passed which made it
illegal to use this aircraft in any European airport.

The market value of the aircraft at the time of the sale in 2010, had it been serviced in 2009, would
have been $2.2 million: as it was, it was worth $1.5million.

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After the legislation was passed, its value plummeted to $500,000, for which sum Britair, having no use
for it, sold it to a buyer in Africa.

Advise Britair.

OR

(b) Mavis and Tony are buying a 12 year-old house and need to borrow 90% of the cost
from the Wealthy Bank. Wealthy Bank asked Mr Clarke, a professional valuer, to carry out a
valuation of the modest house. Mr Clarke values the property at £250,000. The Wealthy Bank
agreed to lend Mavis and Tony £225,000 to purchase the property. Three years later Mavis
and Tony have just discovered that the house has serious structural defects, caused by the
negligent construction of the house and it will cost £50,000 to put it right.

Advise Mavis and Tony if they might recover some or all of this cost from either the local
authority which negligently inspected the foundations, Mr Clarke, or, anyone else.

Alastair, a well known drug dealer, is wanted for questioning by the police. He is
very fit and normally escapes the police by leaping out of his first floor flat through the kitchen
window. The police do not safeguard against this possibility and he falls badly and injures himself. He
is able to crawl to a car which has just drawn up at the side of the road. Alastair then manages to
persuade the driver, Tony, to give him a lift.
Alastair tells Tony he needs to get to hospital immediately and to drive over the speed limit. The car
crashes further injuring Alastair, who was not wearing his seat belt. In the crash Una, is knocked over
when she drunkenly stumbled into the path of the car without looking before she attempted to cross the
road.

Discuss.

Following a spate of burglaries from boats moored in and around Talmouth Harbour,
Nick (aged 18) and his younger brother Terry (aged 15) decided to try and catch the criminals
by keeping watch one night aboard Nick's yacht, 'Silver Streak', which was moored in the
harbour. After a few hours Terry went below to have a nap and awoke at 3am to find that
Nick had switched off all the yacht's lights. When Terry remarked that this was 'a bit
dangerous', Nick replied angrily that it was important they weren't spotted, so Terry
did not pursue the matter.

A few minutes later, Basil, an animal rights activist, was driving his boat home up the
creek, returning from having broken into and vandalised a farm further along the river.
Because Silver Streak's lights were off and without any negligence on his part, Basil
crashed his boat into Silver Streak, fracturing his skull and causing Terry to fall and
break his leg.
Ellen, who was spending the night on her yacht moored nearby, was woken by the
crash and came up on deck to see what had happened. She jumped into her dinghy,
which was tied up alongside her yacht, intending to see if she could help, as she had a life-
saving qualification. Unfortunately she broke her ankle on landing in the dinghy and was
unable to assist.

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Advise the parties.

"The House of Lords' decision in Rees (regarding liability for wrongful birth)
complicates an already complex area and is unlikely to encourage confidence in
judicial law-making."
Discuss.
End of paper