Tort
Tort covers civil wrongs other than breach of contract. The dominant area is negligence, which requires proof of duty of care, breach, causation, and damage not too remote. SQE1 also tests occupiers' liability, nuisance, defamation (including the Defamation Act 2013), and product liability under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Many questions involve applying the elements of negligence to a factual scenario.
Practise Tort questions →What FLK1 tests in Tort
Negligence: Duty of Care
The Caparo three-part test: (1) reasonably foreseeable damage; (2) sufficient proximity; (3) fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty. Specific categories: professional negligence (Bolam/Bolitho), psychiatric harm (primary/secondary victims), economic loss (Hedley Byrne: assumption of responsibility), and omissions (no general duty to act).
Breach of Duty
The objective standard: the "reasonable person" (Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks). For professionals, the Bolam test (accepted body of professional opinion). Relevant factors in assessing breach: probability of harm, magnitude of harm, cost of precautions, social utility of the activity (Wagon Mound No 2).
Causation and Remoteness
But-for causation (Barnett v Chelsea & Kensington). Multiple causes: material contribution (Bonnington Castings). Intervening acts (novus actus interveniens). Remoteness: the type of damage must be reasonably foreseeable (The Wagon Mound No 1). The "eggshell skull" rule: take your victim as you find them.
Occupiers' Liability
Occupiers' Liability Act 1957: duty to lawful visitors — common duty of care. Occupiers' Liability Act 1984: duty to trespassers — lower standard: occupier must be aware of danger and know trespasser may come into vicinity. Warnings and exclusion of liability.
Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher
Private nuisance: unreasonable interference with use and enjoyment of land; only occupiers can sue. Public nuisance: affects a class of the public. Rylands v Fletcher [1868]: strict liability for escape of dangerous things brought onto land for non-natural use.
Defamation
Defamation Act 2013: serious harm threshold (s.1). Libel (permanent form) vs slander. Defences: truth (s.2), honest opinion (s.3), publication on a matter of public interest (s.4), privilege (absolute and qualified). Operators of websites: s.5.
Product Liability and Vicarious Liability
Consumer Protection Act 1987: strict liability for damage caused by a defective product. Vicarious liability: employer liable for employee's tort committed in the course of employment (Lister v Hesley Hall). Key test: whether the tort is sufficiently closely connected to the employment.
Key cases
The cases most commonly tested in SQE1 MCQs for Tort.
Established the modern duty of care in negligence and the "neighbour principle" — you must take reasonable care to avoid acts/omissions likely to injure your neighbour.
Three-stage test for duty of care: foreseeable damage, proximity, and fair/just/reasonable to impose a duty.
A professional is not negligent if they act in accordance with a responsible body of professional opinion.
A defendant is only liable for damage of a type that was reasonably foreseeable at the time of the breach.
But-for causation: the patient would have died anyway — no breach caused the damage.
Strict liability for non-natural use of land and the escape of dangerous things accumulated on it.
Other FLK1 topics
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