Ch15 Test Questions & Answers Intentional Interferences With

Chapter 15: Intentional interferences with the person

Test Bank

Type: MC

Title: Chapter 15 Question 01

1) The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from which case?

a. Wilson v Pringle

Feedback: Incorrect. The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from Goff LJ’s judgment in Collins v Wilcock.

Section reference: 15.1

b. Wilkinson v Downton

Feedback: Incorrect. The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from Goff LJ’s judgment in Collins v Wilcock.

Section reference: 15.1

c. Collins v Wilcock

Feedback: Correct. The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from Goff LJ’s judgment in Collins v Wilcock.

Section reference: 15.1

d. Cole v Turner

Feedback: Incorrect. The definitions of the torts of assault, battery, and false imprisonment are typically taken from Goff LJ’s judgment in Collins v Wilcock.

Section reference: 15.1

Type: MR

Title: Chapter 15 Question 02

2) Which of the following are characteristics of the trespass to the person torts? Please select all that apply.

Feedback: Conventionally, assault, battery, and false imprisonment are described as having the same characteristics: they must be committed intentionally; they must cause direct and immediate harm; and they are actionable per se, that is, without proof of harm.

Section reference: 15.1

a. They must be committed intentionally

b. They can be committed negligently

c. They are only actionable if they cause loss

d. They must cause direct and immediate harm

e. They are actionable without proof of harm

Type: MT

Title: Chapter 15 Question 03

3) For each of the following cases, complete the case name.

Feedback: These are some of the key trespass to the person cases. You will come across them at a number of points in the chapter on trespass to the person.

Section reference: Chapter 15

a. Stephens v = Myers

b. Wilkinson v = Downton

c. Iqbal v = Prison Officers Association

d. Wainwright = Home Office

Type: MC

Title: Chapter 15 Question 04

4) Can silence ever amount to an assault in tort law?

a. Yes

Feedback: Correct. Since the House of Lords’ decision in R v Ireland mere words – and indeed silence – can amount to an assault. As Lord Hope noted ‘Just as it is not true to say that every blow which is struck is an assault … so also it is not true to say that mere words or gestures can never constitute an assault. It all depends on the circumstances … The words and gestures must be seen in their whole context’.

Section reference: 15.3.3

b. No

Feedback: incorrect. Since the House of Lords’ decision in R v Ireland mere words – and indeed silence – can amount to an assault. As Lord Hope noted ‘Just as it is not true to say that every blow which is struck is an assault … so also it is not true to say that mere words or gestures can never constitute an assault. It all depends on the circumstances … The words and gestures must be seen in their whole context’.

Section reference: 15.3.3

c. It depends

Feedback: incorrect. Since the House of Lords’ decision in R v Ireland mere words – and indeed silence – can amount to an assault. As Lord Hope noted ‘Just as it is not true to say that every blow which is struck is an assault … so also it is not true to say that mere words or gestures can never constitute an assault. It all depends on the circumstances … The words and gestures must be seen in their whole context’.

Section reference: 15.3.3

Type: TF

Title: Chapter 15 Question 05

5) Unlawful touching will only amount to a battery if it is hostile.

a. True

Feedback: Incorrect. The unlawful touching need not be hostile to amount to a battery. Touching will only amount to a battery where it does not fall within the category of physical contacts ‘generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of general life’ (Goff LJ, Collins v Wilcock)

Section reference: 15.2.2

b. False

Feedback: Correct. The unlawful touching need not be hostile to amount to a battery. Touching will only amount to a battery where it does not fall within the category of physical contacts ‘generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of general life’ (Goff LJ, Collins v Wilcock

Section reference: 15.2.2

Type: MC

Title: Chapter 15 Question 06

6) A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under which article of the European Convention on Human Rights?

a. Article 2

Feedback: Incorrect. A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Section reference: 15.4 – especially 15.4.3

b. Article 5

Feedback: Correct. A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Section reference: 15.4 – especially 15.4.3

c. Article 8

Feedback: Incorrect. A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Section reference: 15.4 – especially 15.4.3

d. Article 11

Feedback: Correct. A claim for false imprisonment is most likely to co-exist with a claim under article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Section reference: 15.4 – especially 15.4.3

Type: MC

Title: Chapter 15 Question 07

7) Which rule did Lord Hoffmann say in Wainwright v Home Office should have ‘no leading role in the modern law of tort’?

a. The rule in Wilkinson v Downton

Feedback: Correct. In Wainwright v Home Office, Lord Hoffmann said the rule in Wilkinson v Downton should have ‘no leading role in the modern law of tort’.

Section reference: 15.6.1

b. The rule in Rylands v Fletcher

Feedback: Incorrect. Lord Hoffmann said the rule in Wilkinson v Downton should have ‘no leading role in the modern law of tort’ in Wainwright v Home Office,

Section reference: 15.6.1

c. The rule in Wilson v Pringle

Feedback: Incorrect. Lord Hoffmann said the rule in Wilkinson v Downton should have ‘no leading role in the modern law of tort’ in Wainwright v Home Office,

Section reference: 15.6.1

d. The rule in Victorian Railways Commissioners v Coultas

Feedback: incorrect. Lord Hoffmann said the rule in Wilkinson v Downton should have ‘no leading role in the modern law of tort’ in Wainwright v Home Office,

Section reference: 15.6.1

Type: MC

Title: Chapter 15 Question 08

8) Conduct which is ‘in the particular circumstances … reasonable’ is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by which section of the Act?

a. 3(2)

Feedback: Incorrect. Conduct which is ‘in the particular circumstances … reasonable’ is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by section 1(3)(c) of the Act

Section reference: 15.6.2

b. 7

Feedback: Incorrect. Conduct which is ‘in the particular circumstances … reasonable’ is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by section 1(3)(c) of the Act.

Section reference: 15.6.2

c. 3(1)

Feedback: Incorrect. Conduct which is ‘in the particular circumstances … reasonable’ is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by section 1(3)(c) of the Act.

Section reference: 15.6.2

d. 1(3)(c)

Feedback: Correct. Conduct which is ‘in the particular circumstances … reasonable’ is excluded from the remit of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 by section 1(3)(c) of the Act.

Section reference: 15.6.2

Type: TF

Title: Chapter 15 Question 09

9) A competent adult may withhold their consent to any treatment, (including food) even if said treatment is in their best interests, or necessary to save their life.

a. True

Feedback: Correct. A competent adult may withhold their consent to any treatment, (including food) even if said treatment is in their best interests or necessary to save their life. The law is clear that an individual has an absolute right to the inviolability of their body: ‘an adult patient who … suffers from no mental incapacity has an absolute right to choose whether to consent to medical treatment, to refuse it, or to choose one rather than another of the treatments being offered. This right of choice is not limited to decisions which others might regard as sensible’ (Lord Donaldson MR in Re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment [1993]). In reality, however, despite judicial rhetoric upholding an individual’s right to self-determination, the capacity to withhold consent may be negated if some impairment or disturbance of mental functioning renders the individual unable to make a decision whether to consent to, or refuse, treatment. The common law position – and the test of capacity more broadly – has been enshrined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Section reference: 15.5.1

b. False

Feedback: Incorrect. A competent adult may withhold their consent to any treatment, (including food) even if said treatment is in their best interests or necessary to save their life. The law is clear that an individual has an absolute right to the inviolability of their body: ‘an adult patient who … suffers from no mental incapacity has an absolute right to choose whether to consent to medical treatment, to refuse it, or to choose one rather than another of the treatments being offered. This right of choice is not limited to decisions which others might regard as sensible’ (Lord Donaldson MR in Re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment [1993]). In reality, however, despite judicial rhetoric upholding an individual’s right to self-determination, the capacity to withhold consent may be negated if some impairment or disturbance of mental functioning renders the individual unable to make a decision whether to consent to, or refuse, treatment. The common law position – and the test of capacity more broadly – has been enshrined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Section reference: 15.5.1

Type: MT

Title: Chapter 15 Question 10

10) Match the following definitions to the correct tort.

Feedback: Trespass to the person is made up of three torts: battery, assault, and false imprisonment. These were defined by Goff LJ in Collins v Wilcock as follows: Assault

‘an act which causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful force on his person’; Battery ‘the actual infliction of unlawful force on another person’ and False imprisonment ‘the unlawful imposition of constraint on another’s freedom of movement from a particular place’.

Section reference: 15.1

a. ‘An act which causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful force on his person’ = Assault

b. ‘The actual infliction of unlawful force on another person’ = Battery

c. ‘The unlawful imposition of constraint on another’s freedom of movement from a particular place’. = False imprisonment

Type: TF

Title: Chapter 14 Question 11

11) RaRa used to date Topsy. After they have broken up, RaRa posts a naked image of Topsy online in order to get back at her. Hufty advises Topsy that she wouldn’t be able to use the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 because RaRa’s actions do not amount to a ‘course of conduct’. Is this true?

a. True

Feedback: Incorrect. Following Law Society v Kordowski [2011] it appears that a single publication of a harassing statement or image online will amount to a ‘course of conduct’ where the defendant does so ‘in the knowledge that such publications will inevitably come to [the claimant’s] attention on more than one occasion and on each occasion cause them alarm and distress constitutes harassment under the PHA’ (Tugendhat J at [61]).

Section: 15.6.2

b. False

Feedback: Correct. Following Law Society v Kordowski [2011] it appears that a single publication of a harassing statement or image online will amount to a ‘course of conduct’ where the defendant does so ‘in the knowledge that such publications will inevitably come to [the claimant’s] attention on more than one occasion and on each occasion cause them alarm and distress constitutes harassment under the PHA’ (Tugendhat J at [61]).

Section: 15.6.2