TORTS

INTENTIONAL TORTS – TRESPASS TO PERSON.............................................................. 2

ASSAULT ............................................................................................................................ 2
BATTERY ............................................................................................................................ 3
FALSE IMPRISONMENT .................................................................................................... 4
INTENTIONAL TORTS – TRESPASS TO LAND ................................................................... 5
DEFENCES TO INTENTIONAL TORTS................................................................................. 7
SELF-DEFENCE ................................................................................................................. 7
ILLEGALITY ........................................................................................................................ 7
CONSENT ........................................................................................................................... 8
NECESSITY ........................................................................................................................ 9
INSANITY ............................................................................................................................ 9
SELF-HELP ......................................................................................................................... 9
STATUTORY AUTHORISATION ........................................................................................ 9
NOT AVAILABLE: CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE ..................................................... 10
NOT AVAILABLE: PROVOCATION ................................................................................ 10
NOT AVAILABLE: MISTAKE ........................................................................................... 10
ACTIONS ON THE CASE ..................................................................................................... 11
MENTAL HARM (WILKINSON v DOWNTON) ................................................................. 11
PHYSICAL HARM (BIRD v HOLBROOK) ....................................................................... 11
NEGLIGENCE ....................................................................................................................... 12
DUTY OF CARE ................................................................................................................ 12
BREACH OF DUTY .......................................................................................................... 16
CAUSATION ..................................................................................................................... 18
REMOTENESS OF DAMAGE .......................................................................................... 20
DEFENCES TO NEGLIGENCE ........................................................................................ 21
CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE ................................................................................. 21
VOLUNTARY ASSUMPTION OF RISK ........................................................................ 23
RISK WARNINGS ......................................................................................................... 23
DANGEROUS RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY ................................................................. 23
CONTRACT EXCLUSION CLAUSES ........................................................................... 24
PEER PROFESSIONAL OPINION ................................................................................ 24
ILLEGALITY .................................................................................................................. 24
VICARIOUS LIABILITY .................................................................................................... 25
NON-DELEGABLE DUTIES ............................................................................................. 26
CONCURRENT LIABILITY ............................................................................................... 26
SPECIAL DUTY CATEGORIES ........................................................................................... 27
STATUTORY AUTHORITIES ........................................................................................... 27
PURE MENTAL HARM ..................................................................................................... 29
PURE ECONOMIC LOSS ................................................................................................. 30
GOOD SAMARITANS ....................................................................................................... 32
VOLUNTEERS .................................................................................................................. 32
NUISANCE ............................................................................................................................ 33
DEATH .................................................................................................................................. 34

1
 INTENTIONAL TORTS – TRESPASS TO PERSON

ASSAULT

***Often an assault will occur prior to a battery – a plaintiff may then sue in both torts***

To establish a cause of action for assault, the onus of proof is on (the plaintiff) to prove each
of the following elements:

1. An intentional or negligent act or threat by the defendant (NSW v McMaster)

o The defendant must have the subjective intention to create in the mind of the
plaintiff an apprehension that the threat will be carried out (Connex Trains v
Chetcuti)
o Silence may constitute an assault (R v Ireland) (e.g. making repetitive calls and
not saying anything)
o A threat to someone made over the telephone may constitute an assault if it
intentionally raises a reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily contact (Barton
v Armstrong)

2. Which directly creates in the plaintiff

o The plaintiff must have knowledge of that act or threat (e.g. cannot be asleep at
the time)

3. A reasonable apprehension of imminent contact with that person’s body

o The plaintiff need not experience fear

o The court applies an objective test in asking whether a reasonable person in the
plaintiff’s position would have been apprehensive of imminent contact
o A modified test will apply to condition threats: was it reasonable for the plaintiff to
anticipate imminent force if he or she disobeyed? (Rosza v Samuels)
o An unusually timid person is not precluded from recovering where the defendant
knew at the time that the person was of such a disposition: (MacPherson v
Beath)
o The effect on the victim’s mind created by the threat is crucial, not whether the
defendant actually had the intention or means to follow up on the threat (Rixon v
Star City)
o It is an assault to point a pistol at a person in such a way as to make them
believe they are about to be shot (NSW v Ibbett), even if that pistol is in fact not
loaded (Brady v Schatzel)
o ***It is not an assault to merely beckon with a knife in the opposite direction
during a confrontation if the use of the knife was unconscious and the defendant
was holding the knife merely in the course of his work (Cranston v Consolidated
Meat)
o A threat of future violence may still be considered imminent if the fear was kept
alive in the mind of the plaintiff by the continued actions of the defendant (Zanker
v Vartzokas)
o The act must take place without lawful justification or consent of the plaintiff – the
existence of either will operate as a defence to the action