Law paper 2 occupiers liability

• Occupiers Liability


  Defendant occupiers can be held liable for injury to any visitors to their premises (both lawful and trespassers) for failure to take reasonable care
• Occupiers Liability Act 1957

  Lawful visitors
• Section 2(1) OLA 1957


  The occupier of premises owes a common duty of care to visitors
• Occupier


  A person who has some degree of control over the premises in question (Wheat v Lacon - Sufficient control test)
• Premises


  Fixed or moveable structure including any vessel, vehicle or aircraft and gardens
• Visitor


  Anyone who is invited or permitted to be on the land. The permission may be express or implied (e.g. postal worker, those who pay for a right of entry, sales people and casual visitors)
• Common duty of care s2(2)

  A duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted to be there. The common duty of care only applies if the injury is due to the state of the premises and not the activities of the visitor.
• Duty owed to children s2(3)(a)

  • An occupier must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults. Very young children should be under their parent's supervision.
• Duty owed to experts s2(3)(b)

  • An occupier may expect that a specialist visitor (trade etc..) will be aware of & protect himself against risks within his own specialism "within the exercise of his calling"
• Negligence of independent contractors s2(4)(b)

  Must have been reasonable for the occupier to have entrusted the work to the independent contractor

  ii) Occupier must have taken reasonable steps to satisfy himself that the independent contractor was competent to carry out the work

  iii) The occupier must check the work has been properly done
• Defences - How can the occupier discharge their duty?

  1. Warnings s2(4) - Must be effective & sufficient for the visitor to be reasonably safe
  2. Volenti non fit injuria - Consent s.2 (5) OLA 1957 - For consent there must be full knowledge & visitor freely consents
  3. Contributory negligence (CN Act 1945) - The courts have reduced damages if the visitor is partly to blame
  4. Exclusion clauses s2(1)(a) - Valid for a residential occupier but not for a business
• Does the breach by the occupier cause the damage?
• Damages


  The aim is to put the claimant in the position they would have been if the tort had not been committed. The claimant can claim for both general and special damages.
• Injunctions


  Prohibitory injunctions - Orders from the court which prevent the defendant from committing a tort or from continuing with it

  Mandatory injunction - An order to compel the defendant to act in a particular way to rectify the consequences of their actions
• Occupiers Liability Act 1984


  Defines occupier and premises if not done already. Occupiers owe a duty of "common humanity" to trespassers.
• Liability to trespassers under the 1984 Act

  Occupier is aware of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe that it exists

  ii) Occupier knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that someone is in the vicinity of the danger

  iii) The risk is one which the occupier may reasonably be expected to offer some protection
• Duty owed to trespassers s1(4)


  To take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to prevent injury to non-visitors. The standard of care is an objective standard.
• Occupier does not need to spend lots of money making the premises safe from obvious dangers
• The act provides compensation for injuries only, not damage to property