COURSE MANUAL Law of Torts and Consumer Protection B.A./LL.B.

Year 1

Course Instructors Rehan Abeyratne Rohan Alva Shikhaa Beri Rashmi Raman Surabhi Shukla

SEMESTER I 2013/2014

PART I Information on Law of Torts and Consumer Protection offered by Jindal Global Law School Semester I in 2013/2014

The information provided herein is by the Course Coordinator. The following information contains the official record of the details of the course.

Course Title: Course Number: Course Duration: No. of Credit Units: Level:

Law of Torts and Consumer Protection

One Semester 4 Year One (B.A./LL.B )

Hours of Teaching:_________________ 5____________________________ Medium of Instruction: Pre-requisites: Pre-cursors: Equivalent Courses: English None N/A None

The above information shall form part of the University database and may be uploaded to the KOHA Library system and catalogued and may be distributed amongst other students.

PART II Course Aims This course will instruct students in the basics of tort law. We will begin with a theoretical background of torts and fundamental principles of liability. We will then cover the major intentional torts (battery and assault), negligence, defamation, products liability, and trespass to property. Students will also learn the affirmative defenses for all the above torts. Course Intended Learning Outcomes By the end of the semester, students should be able to identify and apply the elements of all the major torts to hypothetical situations. They should also be able to think creatively from both the plaintiff perspective (identifying the best avenues for relief) and from the defense perspective (identifying which defenses are most likely to succeed). Students should also develop an understanding of differences in tort law across common law jurisdictions and how tort law is used to provide relief for victims of large-scale disasters. LECTURE Lectures will be interactive in nature, and will require your participation. Students are expected to attend all lectures, be engaged in the discussion, and actively participate. GRADING Attendance (5 % of final grade) Class Participation (20 % of final grade) Midterm Exam (25 % of final grade) Final Exam (50 % of final grade)

GRADING OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 50% in each of the coursework and exam elements of the assessment. Attendance in lectures is mandatory. Students who fail to be present in at least 50 % of the lectures this semester will not be allowed to sit for the final exam.

Letter Grade O

Grade Total Course Value Marks 7 70 and above

Grade Definitions

Outstanding

Sound knowledge of the subject matter, excellent organizational capacity, ability to synthesize ideas, rules and principles, critically analyse existing materials and originality in thinking and presentation. Sound knowledge of the subject matter, thorough understanding of issues; ability to synthesize ideas, rules and principles and critical and analytical ability. Good understanding of the subject matter, ability to identify issues and provide balanced solutions to problems and good critical and analytical skills. Adequate knowledge of the subject matter to go to the next level of study and reasonable critical and analytical skills. Limited knowledge of the subject matter and irrelevant use of materials and, poor critical and analytical skills. Poor comprehension of the subject matter; poor critical and analytical skills and marginal use of the relevant materials. Will require repeating the course.

A+

65 to 69.75

Excellent

60 to 64.75

Good

B+

55 to 59.75

Adequate

50 to 54.75

Marginal

0.0

Below 50

Failure

PLAIGARISM Any idea, sentence or paragraph you take from another source must be credited to that source. If you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source, presentation or essays, the source must be explicitly mentioned. You SHOULD NOT feel free to plagiarize content, be it from scholarly sources (i.e. books and journal articles) or from the Internet. The university has strict rules with consequences for students involved in plagiarism. This is an issue of academic integrity on which no compromise will be made. As law students, you are entering a profession that is responsible for upholding the rule of law. Please do not harm the integrity of the profession or your reputation by being dishonest in your academic work. WORD OF CAUTION ABOUT ONLINE READINGS Online sources can be classified into reliable, unreliable and outright wrong. The Internet is an open domain in which all and sundry can create web pages and indulge in propaganda, falsification or misrepresentation of events. The few sources that can help you with basic information and which are fairly unbiased are: websites of established newspapers, magazines, and journals. Student should always consult with their instructors about the veracity and authenticity of a particular website and its suitability for researching topics covered in this syllabus.

PART III KEYWORD SYLLABUS Review of the nature and scope of tort law in comparative contexts; forms and standards of liability including strict, absolute, vicarious, employers and product liability; torts in common law and in statute; capacity and tort law; joint and several tortfeasors; intentional torts including battery, assault and false imprisonment; defences and justifications to tort claims; damages and other remedies in tort law; relationship between tort law and other branches of the law; specific areas of tort law, including: fraud, defamation, libel, and nuisance. Detailed Syllabus:

Review of the nature and scope and objectives of tort law including general principles and general elements. Review of the different forms and standards of liability of tort law. Strict liability, absolute liability and other forms of liability in tort law.

Vicarious liability, including employers liability Product liability under statute and common law. The relationship between intentional torts and negligence; Intentional torts; trespass to the person; assault, battery and false imprisonment; intentional infliction of physical harm to the person, etc. Intentional torts; trespass to land; Negligence and allied topics Defamation; libel and slander, Defamation statute if any, defences for defamation. Defences and justifications in tort law. Remedies in tort law.

READINGS The reading in this class will consist primarily of cases and some background material on basic tort principles. Because tort law is largely common-law based (and not statutory), cases will be drawn from various common law jurisdictions, including India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Readings will be emailed to students a few days before each class. Students are expected to complete the readings before class and come prepared to discuss them.

Primary Texts Ratanlal & Dhirajlal: The Law of Torts, 25th Ed., (Lexis Nexis: Butterworth, 2009). Richard Epstein, Cases and Materials on Torts, 5th ed., (Aspen: 2005).

Supplementary Reading (preferably latest editions) Kenneth S. Abraham, The Forms and Functions of Tort Law, 3rd ed. (Foundation Press: 2007). John Murphy: Street on Torts, 11th Ed., (Oxford University Press, 2003) Richard Kidner, Casebook on Torts, 7th Ed., Oxford (University Press 2002) Vivienne Harpwood, Principles of Tort Law Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort Salmond on Torts Peter Cane, Anatomy of Tort Law Avtar Singh, Introduction to Torts R.K. Bangia, Law of Torts with Consumer Protection B.M. Gandhi, Law of Torts P.S. Achuthen Pillai, Law of Torts, 9th Ed., (Eastern Book Company 2009) Halsbury's Laws of India - Consumer Protection Act

Acts/Statutes/Ordinances Consumer Protection Act 1986 Motor Vehicles Act (1938 and 1988) The Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 The Environment Protection Act, 1986

PART IV LECTURE PROGRAMME: The following lecture schedule is tentative and may be revised by the instructor. Teaching Week 1 Lecture Title INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TORTS INTENTIONAL TORTS: BATTERY/ASSAULT INTENTIONAL TORTS: TRESPASS TO PROPERTY INTENTIONAL TORTS: AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES/MALICIOUS PROCEEDINGS NEGLIGENCE: DUTY AND INJURY NEGLIGENCE: BREACH NEGLIGENCE: CAUSATION NEGLIGENCE: DEFENSES MIDTERM EXAM

2 3

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13

STRICT AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY DEFAMATION AND FREE SPEECH PRODUCTS LIABILITY THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

14

CONSTITUTIONAL TORTS, ACT OF STATE, SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY, AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

15

REVIEW

WEEK I INTRODUCTION / GENERAL PRINCIPLES / LAW OF TORT IN INDIA 1. Introduction to Torts a. Evolution of Torts; Elements of a Tort; Tort as a Private Law remedy 2. Purpose/ function and goals of the Law of Tort including an overview of tort theory; Remedies in Tort 3. Foundations of Tortious Liability 4. Tort and Contracts; Tort and Crimes 5. Classification of Torts Required Reading Ratanlal & Dhirajlal (R &D), Pages 1-32; 241 Theories of Tort Law, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, available at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tort-theories/ Supplemental Reading Stephen R. Perry, The Moral Foundations of Tort Law, 77 Iowa L. Rev. 449 (1991 1992). Glanville Williams, The Aims of the Law of Torts, (1951) 4 Current Legal Problems 137.

WEEK II-IV INTENTIONAL TORTS 1. Trespass to Person a. Assault and Battery b. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress c. False Imprisonment Cases Vosburg v. Putney, 50 N.W. 403 (Wis. 1891) Letang vs. Cooper, [1965] 1 QB 232 Fowler vs. Lanning, [1957] 1 QB 426 Cole v. Turner, 6 Mod. 149 Wilson v. Downton, [1897] 2 Q.B.D. 57 Murray v. Ministry of Defence, [1988] 2 All ER 521 Nilabati Behra vs. State of Orissa, AIR 1993 SC 1960

2. Trespass to Land and Chattels Cases Vincent v. Lake Erie Transportation Co., 109 Minn. 456, 124 N.W. 221 (1910) Dougherty v. Stepp, 18 N.C. 371 (1835) Poggi v. Scott, 139 P. 815 (Cal. 1914) 3. Defences to Intentional Torts a. Consent b. Self-defence c. Defence of Property d. Necessity Cases Hudson v. Craft, 204 P.2d 1 (Cal 1949) McGuire v. Almy, 8 N.E. 2d 760 (Mass. 1937) Courvoisier v. Raymond, 47 P. 284 (Colo. 1896) Bird v. Holbrook, 130 Eng. Rep. 911 (C.P. 1825) Kirby v. Foster, 17 R.I. 437, 22 A. 1111 (R.I. 1891) Ploof v. Putnam, 81 Vt. 471, 71 A. 188 (1908) Vincent v. Lake Erie, 124 N.W. 221 (Minn. 1910) WEEKS V-VII NEGLIGENCE

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Intro to Negligence and Strict Liability Duty of Care Breach of Duty Causation Proximate Cause/Remoteness Vicarious Liability

Cases Palsgraf v. Long Island Rail Road Polemis, Wagon Mound Scott v. Shephard, 96 Eng. Rep. 525 (K.B. 1773). Brown V. Kendall, 60 Mass. 292 (1850) Brown v. Collins, 53 N.H. 442 (1873) Powell v. Fall, 5 Q.B. 597 (1880) Stone v. Bolton, [1950] 1 K.B. 201 (C.A.)

10

Veeran v. Krishnamurthy, AIR 1966 Ker 172 Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932) All ER Rep. 1 The Caparo Test Vaughan v. Menlove, 1832 Eng. Rep. 490 (C.P. 1837) Roberts v. Ring, 173 N.W. 437 (Minn. 1919) Breunig v. American Family Insurance, 173 N.W.2d 619 (Wis. 1970) United States v. Carroll Towing Co., 159 F.2d 169 (2d Cir. 1947) Fletcher v. City of Aberdeen, 338 P.2d 743 (Wash. 1959) Blyth v. Birmingham Water Works, 156 Eng. Rep. 1047 (Ex. 1856) Laxman B. Joshi v. Trimbak B. Godbole, AIR 1969 SC 128 Philips India Ltd. V. Kunju Punnu, (1974) 77 BLR 337: AIR 1975 Bom 306 A.S. Mittal v. State of U.P., 1989 3 SCC 233) Spring Meadows Hospital v. Harjol Ahluwalia, (1998) 4 SCC 39 Byrne v. Boadle, Ct of Exchequer, ENG 1863 WEEK VIII DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE 1. DEFENSES a. Contributory negligence b. Assumption of Risk/Volenti Non Fit Injuria c. Exclusion of Liability d. Illegality or ex turpi causa non oritur actio Cases Smith v. Charles Baker and Sons (1891) AC 325 (HL) South Indian Industrial Ltd., Madras v. Alamelu Ammal, AIR 1923 Mad. 565 Haynes v. Harwood (1935) 1 KB 146 Ramchandangram Nagaram Rice & Oil Ltd. v. Municipal Commissioners of Purulia Municipality, AIR 1943 Pat. 408 Manindra Nath Mukherjee v. Mathuradas Chatturbhuj, AIR 1946 Cal. 175 Hall v. Brokands Auto Racing Club (1932) 1 KB 205 T.C. Balkrishnan v. T.R. Subramanian, AIR 1968 Ker. 151 Vidya Devi, R&D p 570 Morris v Murray[1990] 3 All ER 801 WEEK X STRICT AND ABSOLUTE LIABILITY Cases Rylands v. Fletcher, L.R. 3 H.L. 330 (1868) Read V Lyons

11

Cambridge Water V Imperial Leathers Union Carbide Corporation and others v. Union of India and others, (1989) 1 SCC 674 M.C. Mehta v. Shri Ram Foods and Fertilizer Industries, AIR 1987 SC 965 Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Subhagwanti, AIR 1966 SC 1750 Pinnamaneni Narasimha Rao v. Gundavarapu Jayaprakasu, AIR 1990 AP 207 Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shantha, AIR 1966 SC 550 Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab, (2005) 6 SCC 1 Supplemental Reading Marc Galanter, Laws Elusive Promise: Learning from Bhopal

WEEK XI DEFAMATION AND FREE SPEECH Cases Hough v London Express Newspaper, Limited Petra Ecclestone v Telegraph Media Group Limited Huth v Huth Indian Express Newspapers vs Jagmohan Mundhara And Anr. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan R. Rajagopal vs State of Tamil Nadu Abdul Wahab Galadari vs Indian Express Newspaper Govind Shantaram Walavalkar vs Pandharinath Shivaram Rege

WEEK XII-XIII PRODUCTS LIABILITY AND THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT Cases Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc., 59 Cal.2d 57 (Supreme Court of California) Cronin v. J.B.E. Olson Corp., 8 Cal.3d 121 (Supreme Court of California) Gower v. Savage Arms, Inc., 166 F.Supp.2d 240 (Eastern District of Pennsylvania) Cepeda v. Cumberland Engineering Co., Inc., 76 N.J. 152 (Supreme Court of New Jersey) Statute/Readings The Consumer Protection Act Halsbury's Laws of India - Consumer Protection Act

12

WEEK XIV CONSTITUITONAL TORTS, ACT OF STATE, SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY AND OTHER MISCEALLANEOUS TOPICS Selected Cases Kasturilal Ralia Ram Jain vs The State Of Uttar Pradesh State Of Madhya Pradesh vs Chironji Lal Union Of India vs Jasso And Ors. Rudul Sah vs State Of Bihar And Another P.V. Rao v. Advani N. Nagendra Rao Vs. State of AP

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