Summary: Tort Lecture 2 - Damage

Read the summary and the most important questions on Tort Lecture 2 - Damage

• 2 Damages

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• Hierarchy of interests protected within the law of tort:

  Hierarchy of interests protected within the law of tort:

  1.       Physical injury (most widely protected)

  2.       Property damage

  3.       Psychiatric well-being

  4.       Economic losses.  

• What are the Major Forms of Damage Suffered by Claimants in Tort?

  • Traumatic physical injury (accidents, congenital disabilities and pain and suffering associated with wrongful birth claims)
  • Non-traumatic physical injuries (disease, wrongful life),
  • Psychological harm or nervous shock. 

• What are Traumatic Physical Injuries? 

  Jane Stapleton,  ‘Compensating Victims of Disease’

  Relatively precisely pinpointed in space and time

  Usually remedied in tort. 
  

• Give 3 examples of traumatic injuries and the cases in which they appear

  Car accidents (Nettleshipv Weston (1971)

  Medical mishaps (Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority (1998)  

  Injuries occurring on premises (Wheat v Lacon (1966 )..   

• What are non-traumatic injuries?

  Non-traumatic injuries – cannot be precisely located/pinpointed
  These are less likely to be compensated in the law of tort. 

• What is another way of conceptualizing the difference between traumatic and non-traumatic injuries?

  Jane Stapleton traumatic injuries - like ‘accidents’ 

  Non-traumatic injuries - like 'disease'

• When can you recover damages for nervous shock?

  Emotional and Psychological Harm or Nervous Shock

  emotional and psychological harm that is a consequence of actual traumatic physical injury is always recoverable.  

  Under the category of pain and suffering or loss of amenity.
  Loss of amenity essentially - loss of enjoyment in life. (can cover e.g. loss of limb, emotional & psych harm resulting from traumatic physical injury)

• In which case was it established that the  psychiatric injury must be medically recognised?

  • The event must have caused a recognised psychiatric injury (e.g. pathological grief (Vernon v Bosley or post-traumatic stress disorder (Leach v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire) if compensation is to follow. 

• In which case was the father told (incorrectly) that his baby had died and given the body of a dead baby to hold? Which principle does this illustrate?

  A more recent application of the Wilkinson principle is to be found in the case of Farrell v Avon Health Authority (2001), which concerned a Father who was told (incorrectly) that his son had died at birth and was given the dead body of a baby (purporting to be his son) of  to hold
  
  Wilkinson principle - can claim for psychiatric damage even where there is no traumatic phsyical injury

• Why are feelings of grief and sorrow supposed to be excluded from teh ambit of actionable damage?

  Such feelings are said to be natural. Claimants are expected to have the fortitude to suffer ordinary grief and are not expected to look to the law of tort for compensation.