Tresspass Essay

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Introduction The problem question relates the legal principle concerning ‘Trespass to the Person’ the tort of trespass to the person protects the right to personal integrity and the Writ of trespass is that the act had to be direct and physical Scott v. Shepherd (1773). This area of trespass is broken down into three issues: Assault, battery and False imprisonment. In order to answer the problem question it would have to be ascertained as to which trespass has occurred and apply it to any relevant statue and case law where appropriate. Definition Trespass to the person is defined as a physical interference with his or her person. Explanation Trespass to the person takes three forms: assault, battery and false imprisonment and they carry the same characteristics as ‘Trespass’ in which they must be committed intentionally, cause direct harm and are actionable per se without proof of damage. The rationale for damage was illustrated in the case of John Lewis & Co Ltd V Tims 1952. This case related to false imprisonment, Lord Porter stated that when “the liberty of the subject is at stake questions as to the damage sustained become of little importance”. Lord Porter was basically saying that it doesn’t matter what damage occurred, the main fact is that a person’s liberty of free movement had been wrongfully removed. Differences from the tort of negligence There is also a need to distinguish intention from negligence which is an important factor in Bert’s case. In lay mans terms if A was to drop a plate of food over B then that would be deemed as negligence as there was no intention to drop the plate of food over B. On the other hand if A were to throw the plate of food over B then this would be deemed as trespass as the intention was there. This was demonstrated in the case of Letang v Cooper [1964] where the defendant negligently ran

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