Publisher's Synopsis
This amended version of the text for a lecture given in the bar Library in November 1996, provides a general survey of developments in the law of negligence, occupiers' liability, nuisance, defamation, malicious prosecution and a miscellany of other torts during the past two years.;Referring to recent legislation and decided cases in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the author deals with such questions as: is pregnancy a "personal injury" for limitation purposes?; when (if at all) is a local authority liable for negligence or breach of statutory duty?; can a local authority be liable in tort for breach of an EC Directive?; do the police owe a duty of care to the owner of property in police custody?; do the fire brigade owe a duty of care to the owner's property in the vicinity of a fire?; how (if at all) is "White vs Jones" affected by the Law Reform Act (Husband and Wife) Act (NI) 1964?;Other questions examined include: can a director of a family company be personally liable if the company was not properly insured for employers' liability purposes?; what is the difference between primary and secondary victims of nervous shock?; are police officers entitled to damages for nervous shock sustained in the course of their employment?; can an employee recover damages if put under undue stress and pressure at work?; does the grant of planning permission provide a defence to liability for nuisance?; what changes in Northern Ireland law have been made by the Defamation Act 1996?; can a public apology for publishing a defamatory statement be itself defamatory?; are newspaper readers expected to read the text of an article as well as the headlines?; and is wheel-clamping a tort?
