Tutorial 5

Exercise

The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong Business Law (ACY 2021)

General Principles of Liability

Question 1
Last night, ABC drove his car home and found that the car park was full. He then
decided to park his car on the pavement. As he was reversing his car, he knocked
down XYZ, a pedestrian. XYZ was seriously injured and suffered a broken left leg.
He was immediately taken to the hospital. However, due to an administrative mistake
made by the hospital, XYZ’s right leg was cut off.

Advise whether ABC would be liable for:

i) XYZ’s broken left leg; and
ii) The cutting off of XYZ’s right leg.

Question 2
Under what circumstances will a court decide that a person has breached his duty of
care?

Question 3 (Case Study)

Alice just purchased a new house in Shatin. She was a single mom living with her 12
years old son Peter. Alice loved her son very much, even more so for the reason that
Peter suffered from mental illness and acted differently from other children. Peter had
the history of mental problem and used to attack his classmate Tom in kindergarten.
One day, Alice left one important file relating to work in the office, and the deadline
for the assignment was the next day. Luckily, her colleague Teresa kindly offered to
deliver the file to Alice since she lived nearby. Teresa came and Peter opened the door
since Alice happened to go downstairs for a grocery shopping. Over the phone, Alice
told Teresa to wait for a while and said she would be back soon. While Teresa was
sitting on sofa browsing a magazine, front cover being Martha Stewart with her
smiling face and a plate of steak, Peter came into the living room with a steak knife.
Before Teresa could react, Peter came forward and stabbed her with the knife. Teresa
was seriously injured and was sent to Prince Wales Hospital. It took her 3 months for
the full recovery.

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 Tutorial 5
Exercise

According to general principles of Tort Law:

a) Explain whether Alice is liable to Teresa for her injury. Please include case law
in your explanation.
b) Explain the concept of ‘contributory negligence’ and whether it applies in this
case.
c) Explain the scope of damages awarded to Teresa if she is successful in her
lawsuit against Alice.

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