Trespass to Goods
Elements
(1)
There are goods.
(2)
The plaintiff has a right to possess the goods.
(3)
The defendant interferes with the goods.
(4)
The defendant interferes with the goods intentionally.
(5)
The defendant interferes with the goods without permission of the plaintiff.
(6)
There is not a defence available to the defendant.
Consequences
(1)
Damages
(2)
Injunction
Arthur v Clare
Negligence
Elements
(1)
The defendant owes the plaintiff a duty of care.
(2)
The defendant breaches this duty of care.
(3)
The breach of the duty of care causes damage to the plaintiff.
(4)
There is not a defence available to the defendant.
Consequences
(1)
Damages
Figure 20.4 Framework for Applying Law
This framework serves two related purposes. (i) It provides a check list for
applying law to facts. Since it is both methodical and comprehensive it
minimises the possibility that anything is overlooked. (ii) It provides a natural
structure for setting out the ensuing opinion based on the results which are
obtained when law is applied to facts.
A lawyer in practice can use this framework for litigation. A student can use
this framework for answering a problem question. Indeed, the advice on
answering a problem question in Chapter 28 not only incorporates this
framework but gives detailed advice on how to create it.
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Elements and Facts
Introduction
For applying law the final step is to check the elements against the facts. This
breaks down to three processes:
(1)
Take each permutation of parties in turn.
(2)
Take each cause of action in turn.
(3)
Check each element of each cause of action against the facts.
By proceeding in this way you ensure that you do the task systematically and
comprehensively. These processes are described here in brief form since they
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Chapter 28 Answering Problem Questions
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