What we'll be doing today, the first topic in module 1 of unit 2 under the module the law of thought and that topic is the nature of thought. Now this is a very short introduction to thought. So this video should not be very long.
What is tort? The law of tort is a body of rules developed over centuries by common law judges which determine when the law will grant redress for harm suffered by the victim. So common law is what we call judge made law or law that is developed and passed on by judgements where judges refer to previous judgements, analyze previous judgements to make decisions in present cases and this goes on and has gone on for centuries. So the harm suffered by victims may take many different forms. So as stated here, physical injury to persons, physical injury to property or physical damage to property, injury to reputation.
So that would be like libel and slander and damage to economic interests. So a tort is defined as a civil wrong arising from a breach of duty which is set or fixed by law and it generally gives rise to compensation by way of an action for unliquidated damages. So we'll discuss damages a bit later on but damages is essentially monetary compensation.
The aim of the law of thought is to compensate persons harmed by the wrongful conduct of others. So, even though a thought or a breachable duty may exist or may occur, it is not always actionable. So, loss and damage are not actionable in tort unless such damage amounts to a legal injury.
If the Defender's Act is in itself lawful, he cannot be sued in tort, regardless of how much loss the claimant may have suffered as a result of it. In such a case, there is said to be damnam sine injuria. which translates to damage without legal injury. So, for example, business competition, which drives a trader out of business, is not actionable in thought.
The well-being of society depends upon the right of every person to compete in business. So, just because the action of a... individual or corporation has led to your financial loss it does not mean that you can bring an action on the thought there needs to be a legal or legally defined injury Now there are other occasions where the law of thought will not intervene to compensate the claimant. And so sometimes the harm complained of may be too trivial which is expressed by the maxim de minimis, not curat lex. Sometimes the damage is too indefinite or incapable of proof.
Also there are occasions the court must balance respective interests of the claimant and the defendant and may find that the defendant's interests should prevail for example in the law of nuisance and we'll get onto nuisance in further videos but just stick up in my that when harm may be caused by the defendant exercising his own rights or where he does damage to the claimant in order to prevent some greater evil befalling himself, he may have requested the defence of necessity. It is possible for there to be injurious inedamno, which translates to legal injury, without resulting damage. So this for example would be if you stand on someone's land without their permission. By strict definition, you may have committed the tort of trespass.
However, if the owner of the property attempted to sue the person standing on their property who stood for a second or two, it's likely that the court would dismiss the case as the owner of the property did not suffer any damage. So, normally in the tort, In tort, the claimant must prove that he has suffered actual damage as well as legal injury. And this may take the form of injury to his person, as we mentioned before, his property or his reputation. In very few cases, there are very few torts that do not require actual damage to be proved.
So it is sufficient to show an infringement on the claimant's legal rights and this would also encompass trespass and libel but the claimant must show that he has suffered injury. So there are several elements and characteristics. in relation to thought that must be considered.
So, the first is the mental element. In most thoughts, the claimant must show that the defendant's wrongful act was done either intentionally, so it's a deliberate act, or negligently, which means that he ought to have known that this would be the likely outcome and that he had a duty. to prevent this outcome from happening but he breached that duty or he is essentially yes he breached that duty his duty of care and in some occasions the rule in Rylands and Fletcher would apply which is a strict liability rule so in Rylands and Fletcher As I mentioned before, speaks us to liability in strict cases.
Strict liability means whether it happens, once it happens, whether you intended it to happen or not is of no consideration, no consequence. You are liable simply because it occurred. Now, in court, there are remedies as you would expect if you bring an action in court you want some kind of relief or compensation.
So, once the defendant has been found liable, the court's next task is to determine the appropriate remedy. So, the two most common remedies in thought are either A damages which is monetary compensation or B an injunction which is the court saying what A defendant can or cannot do. So, the most common remedy in tortious damages and here the court must assess the amount of damages to be paid to a successful claimant. The basic principle as stated here is that the claimant must be placed as far as money can do, be put in the same financial position as he would have been at the date of the trial if no accident had happened. To say for example, damage a property, the rule is that the general rule I should say is that the claimant should be put back in that position where he would have been had his property not been damaged.
So that's what it means to be put back in position would have been at the time if no accident had happened. The Latin phrase I believe is restitutio integra. Damages are usually classified into several brackets but the main two are general damages and special damages which we will get into in a short while. So in the case of Cornelia Cancinlui, which is like the go-to case for damages in the Caribbean, Chief Justice Wooden stated that in assessing damages the court had to take into account certain heads of damages.
They had to make sure and consider these. In this case, the appellant was seriously injured as a result of the negligent driving of a vehicle by the respondent. So the court said that these criteria needed to be considered. So A the nature and extent of the injury sustained, B the nature and gravity of the resulting physical disability, C the pain and suffering which had to be endured, D the loss of amenities suffered and E the extent to which the plaintiffs pecuniary prospects have been materially affected.
Now pecuniary is money, financial. So, they extend. So, say for example, he was a construction worker.
He broke both his arms. He can't do construction for the rest of his life. Court has to consider this. This is how he made his money before and now he cannot. So, the defendant would be liable for this and the court consider this in deciding how much damages should be awarded.
There are several types of damages general, special which are the main two and then nominal, aggravated, exemplary or punitive and contemptuous. So, general damages are those that are awarded but on the heads that cannot be quantified. Alright, so these include pain and suffering and loss of amenities. So, this is like if you get if somebody causes to get in an accident you can't calculate how much pain you get.
You can't write down the amount of pain that you get but you could the court would look at the injuries and look at the evidence and give an award based on how much they believe with match the pain that you suffer based on what they can estimate. But there's no definite amount of pain that you can demonstrate and put on a piece of paper to be compensated for. As opposed to special damages which are those that could be precisely quantified. So medical bills, hospital bills, loss of income, damage to a house, clothing, car. You can check and see how much it costs to repair a car, how much it costs to pay for your surgery, how much money you was making every month that you could no longer make because you cannot work, etc.
That would be considered special damages. And just as an aside, when you're claiming this in your claim form or your statement of case, you have to list exactly the special damages that you're claiming. Show the evidence to the court that this is what you lost and this is what you should be given.
Aggravated damages. These are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for the claimant for injury to his feelings. Dignity, pride.
So, for example, if in a case of assault and battery, you were beaten in front of your family, in front of your church, in front of your colleagues, embarrassed, the court would also consider this when deciding to award damages. The Injuries to feelings and dignity. They blow you down in the presence of your colleagues and your families and those who you care about.
So this is what the court would consider. Exemplary damages. These are whether to punish the defendant or to deter similar conduct in the future.
So if it's like extremely heinous or if it's done by someone who ought to have. ...known better or understand their authority. So you will often see this in cases where police officers, for example, assault citizens, arrest them falsely under false......division fall under false imprisonment, took bribes and persons who the court deemed should know better, should know much better and have a... Upstanding role in society. The court would usually award exemplary damages against these kinds of individuals.
Exemplary or punitive. Contemptuous damages. Now these are damages that were to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future.
So one is to make an example. usually and the other one is just because the actor is so heinous that the court is going at an extra step to punish the defendant. One that was not mentioned there was nominal damages and nominal damages is usually where the claimant shows that the tort has been committed but cannot show that he suffered any loss.
So, for example, as I mentioned before. where there's trespass like say you stand on somebody's line and you jump back off and you're no longer on the line and they have you on tape that you stand on the line technically you did commit trespass but they didn't suffer any loss so the court might say yes trespass did occur here's five dollars and it's nominal nominal doesn't necessarily mean small but usually it does so That's what nominal means like petty minor right so we mentioned that there are two forms usually two forms two main forms of remedies the first was damages and the second as we see here injunctions right so what is an injunction an injunction is a discretionary order of the high court It is an order to a defendant either to do an act or to refrain from doing an act. Right, so there are two types of injunctions that we're just going to discuss.
We'll get onto these further on in the modules but as of now just a simple explanation. Right, so two types of injunctions It's a mandatory injunction which is one that orders a defendant to perform a particular act. Right, so the example here is to remove a wall from the plaintiff's land and a prohibitory injunction which is one that bars a defendant from performing a particular act. For example, to cease trespassing on the claimant's land.
Right, so The breach of the injunction usually followed by proceedings to commit the defendant to prison for contempt of court. So that's usually how it goes. That's what you're stating the order.
Stay away from this. Don't do this. Don't go on this land or else you'll still have jail time.
Okay, so that brings us to the end of the first topic very short topic videos less than 20 minutes long the other topics are a bit more voluminous so that's this is just the introduction to the module taught okay so if you'll appreciate the video give it a like subscribe share it with your friends other students who may be sitting these exams or someone who's just interested in law to share it with them and based on the i will be uploading more but if i see the interest is great then it will encourage me to put in more work on you know upload at a faster rate hoping to complete the entirety of unit 2 keep love bye before the start of the CAPE examinations. So, all the best in your studies and see you in the next video. Take care.