Professional Documents
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GENERAL DEFENCES
IN TORTS
Defences
• Consent • Discipline
• Mistake • Lawful arrest
• Inevitable • Statutory
accident authority
• Act of God • Jus tertii
• P r i v a t e • Ex turpi
defence causa non
• Necessity orito action
Consent
• Meaning: P’s willingness to accept the act done to
him
– It would amount to tort if not because of P’s
consent
• Different from volenti non fit i n j u ri a – t he
willingness to accept the risk as a result of D’s act
• Consent must be given voluntarily without duress
or threat
• Consent is given for a specific act complained of-
for other acts which are not consented, the act
would amount to tort
3 REQUIREMENTS
(a)Consent to the act
-D’s wrongful act would not become a
wrong
- E.g : consent in medical treatment –
Chatterton v Gerson, Mallette v
Schulman
I. Self-defence
II. Defence of another
III. Defence of property
IV.Contributory negligence
I. Self-defence
• Cases:
• S O U T H WA R K L O N D O N B O R O U G H
COUNCIL V WILLIAMS
• WHALLEY V LANCASHIRE AND
YORKSHIRE RLY CO
• GREYVENSTEYN V HATTINGH
(b) Public necessity
• The use of private property by a public official for
a public reason.
• The potential harm to society necessitates the
destruction or use of private property for the
greater good.
• The injured, private individual does not always
recover for the damage caused by the necessity
• Conditions:
– Actual danger
– Reasonable
– necessary
Case: DEWEY V WHITE [1827]
Mood & M 56