Module Information

Module Identifier
LP30720
Module Title
Tort for GDL Students
Academic Year
2016/2017
Co-ordinator
Professor Ryszard W Piotrowicz
Semester
Semester 2 (Taught over 2 semesters)
Co-Requisite
LP30105, LP30220, LP30320, LP30420, LP30520, LP30620, LP30720, LP30820, LP30920
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
LA36030 or GF36030

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Essay  of 1,000 words  20%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   Exam  80%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   Exam  if element failed  80%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  if element failed  20%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Be able to explain the legal principles relating to tortious liability.
2. Be able to analyse factual scenarios relating to tort law and apply the principles of law to those scenarios.
3. Show evidence of having completed legal research in order to engage with legal debates and social and other responses to issues of tort law from local, national and international perspectives and to recognise the impact of political, media and popular opinion on the law.
4. Show evidence of an ability to analyse a diverse range of legal materials and scholarly legal works and to integrate them to form new perspectives, theories or solutions to legal problems.
5. Show evidence of being able to assimilate information and to organise information in a way that indicates an awareness of the arguments in favour and against a proposition, and to be able to use those arguments in order to reason a conclusion and to justify how that conclusion was arrived at.
6. Be able to communicate results (orally and in writing) concisely and effectively at an academic level in English and/or Welsh using the relevant legal terminology correctly.
7. Be able to apply knowledge to the resolution of theoretical and practical problems.

Brief description

This module will examine the tort of negligence, concentrating on the principles of duty of care and breach of duty, focusing on the tensions raised by issues such as liability for economic loss and psychiatric injury, and also on the complex problems of proving causation. It will consider the effectiveness of the torts system in light of the concept of vicarious liability, the available defences, the law of damages, and the policy considerations involved. Wider tortuous concepts, such as nuisance and trespass will also be considered.

The law of tort has a profound effect upon society, for good and ill.

The study of tort law will fairly and impartially examine this growing and controversial area of litigation including: clinical negligence, employers' liability and defamation within the content of the course.

Content

  • Introduction
  • What is tortious liability?
  • Negligence
  • Trespass to the person (and relevant defences)
  • Nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher (as well as other aspects of strict liability, eg Animals)
  • Vicarious Liability and Non-Delegable Duties
  • General defences in Tort
  • Remedies
(A key aim of this module is to provide students with one of the foundations of legal knowledge that is required by those seeking to enter the legal professions)

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number
Communication Preparation for, and discussion, in seminars.
Improving own Learning and Performance Post-lecture research and seminar preparation.
Information Technology Post-lecture research and seminar preparation.
Personal Development and Career planning Learning throughout the module will be relevant to a career in the legal profession.
Problem solving Preparation for and discussion of problem-solving questions in seminars.
Research skills Post-lecture research and seminar preparation.
Subject Specific Skills Legal research: use of specifically designed legal databases as a resource for statute and case law.
Team work Seminar work: preparation and group discussions.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6