Disclaimer: This work was produced by one of our expert legal writers, as a learning aid to help law students with their studies.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. Any information contained in this case summary does not constitute legal advice and should be treated as educational content only.

Letang v Cooper – 1965

286 words (2 pages) Case Summary

07 Mar 2018 Case Summary Reference this LawTeacher

Jurisdiction / Tag(s): UK Law

Legal Case Summary

Letang v Cooper [1965] 1 QB 232

Intention to cause harm and trespass to the person

Facts

In the summer of 1957, the claimant was sunbathing outside on a piece of land which ordinarily served as a car park. While she was sunbathing, the Defendant reversed over her legs with his car, causing her injury. The defendant did not do it intentionally, however the claimant had the option of claiming in negligence. She did not, immediately, choose to do so. By 1961 she had decided to start a claim, but as a claim of negligence had limitation period of three years (as per the Limitation Act 1939 2 & 3 Geo.6 c.21 as amended by section 2 of the Law Reform (Limitation of Actions, etc.) Act, 1954) she made a claim under trespass to the person.

Issues

The issue in this case was whether it was possible to make a claim under trespass to the person if the action was negligent rather than intentional as until then the tort of trespass to the person had been applied to both types of situation.

Decision/Outcome

Adopting the approach from Kruber v Grzesiak ([1963] VR 621) the court held that where the damage was caused by an action which was not intentional, then the proper action is one in negligence and not in trespass to the person. For the claimant, this meant that she could not start the action she had (based on trespass) and that her only available action was time barred. In terms of the law, the judgement of the court meant that a distinction was established between the torts of negligence and the trespass to the person based on intent. In effect, this meant that the law on trespass to the person has been narrowed.

LawTeacher

LawTeacher

LawTeacher.net is the UK’s leading provider of academic legal support, offering both writing services and an extensive collection of law study resources for students in the UK and overseas.

Founded in 2003 by Grey’s Inn graduate Barclay Littlewood, the Company was built on a commitment to excellence, with unique guarantees and a high standard of service from day one.

The team includes over 500 UK legally qualified writing experts, with many practising solicitors and barristers, and several former lecturers.

Areas of Legal Expertise

Contract Law Criminal Law Constitutional and Administrative Law EU Law Tort Law Property Law Equity and Trusts Jurisprudence Company Law Commercial Law Family Law Human Rights Law Employment Law Evidence Public International Law Legal Research and Methods Dispute Resolution Business Law and Practice Civil Litigation Criminal Litigation Professional Conduct Taxation Wills and Administration of Estates Solicitors’ Accounts

Cite This Work

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below:

Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.

Related Services

View all

Related Content

Jurisdictions / Tags

Content relating to: “UK Law”

UK law covers the laws and legislation of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Essays, case summaries, problem questions and dissertations here are relevant to law students from the United Kingdom and Great Britain, as well as students wishing to learn more about the UK legal system from overseas.

Related Articles

Prices from

£ 99

Estimated costs for: Undergraduate 2:2 • 1000 words • 7 day delivery

Place an order

Delivered on-time or your money back

Reviews.co.uk Logo (292 Reviews)

Rated 4.2 / 5

Give yourself the academic edge today

Each order includes

  • On-time delivery or your money back
  • A fully qualified writer in your subject
  • In-depth proofreading by our Quality Control Team
  • 100% confidentiality, the work is never re-sold or published
  • Standard 7-day amendment period
  • A paper written to the standard ordered
  • A detailed plagiarism report
  • A comprehensive quality report