FE-1 Law of Torts: Negligence, Defences, Occupiers and Defamation
FE-1 Law of Torts examines negligence, the intentional torts, occupiers' liability, defamation and the Irish statutes that modify the common law. Answers earn marks for stating the rule, citing the Irish authority, and applying both to the facts in front of you.
Negligence: duty, breach, causation
- Duty: the neighbour principle from Donoghue v Stevenson, as received in Irish law. Glencar Explorations plc v Mayo County Council [2002] 1 IR 84 confirms a proximity-based approach rather than the UK's Caparo three-stage test.
- Breach: the ordinary reasonable person. For doctors, the standard is that of the ordinary skilled practitioner of the relevant specialty: Dunne v National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91.
- Causation: the but-for test, with material contribution where several causes operate; remoteness then limits recovery.
- Nervous shock: Kelly v Hennessy [1995] 3 IR 253 requires a recognisable psychiatric illness, shock-induced, with proximity in time and space and a close relationship of love and affection to the injured person.
Defences and limitation
- Civil Liability Act 1961, s 34: contributory negligence reduces damages by whatever the court considers just and equitable; it never defeats the claim outright.
- Statute of Limitations 1957, s 11: six years for tort generally; personal injury claims must issue within two years under the 1991 Amendment Act.
Occupiers and defamation
- Occupiers' Liability Act 1995: s 3 requires reasonable care that a visitor is not injured by a danger on the premises; s 4 protects trespassers only against intentional injury and reckless disregard.
- Defamation Act 2009: defences of truth (s 16), honest opinion (s 20), absolute and qualified privilege and offer of amends; a one-year limitation period applies.
Worked example
A shopper slips on a spill and fractures a wrist. The supermarket owes the s 3 visitor duty. A cleaning log showing the spill was known ten minutes earlier and left unmarked establishes breach; the fracture establishes damage and causation. If the shopper was running while texting, the court reduces damages under s 34 by a percentage, not a bar. Proceedings must issue within two years.
Traps that cost marks
- Reciting Caparo as the Irish duty test instead of Glencar.
- Treating contributory negligence as a complete defence, or confusing it with volenti non fit injuria, which needs free and informed consent to the specific risk.
- Swapping the s 3 visitor standard and the s 4 trespasser standard.
- Missing the two-year personal injuries limitation or the six-year general period.