Some Recent Developments in the Law of Torts

This amended version of the text for a lecture given in the bar Library in November 1996, provides a general survey of developments in the law of negligence, occupiers' liability, nuisance, defamation, malicious prosecution and a miscellany of other torts during the past two years. Referring to recent legislation and decided cases in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the author deals with such questions as: is pregnancy a "personal injury" for limitation purposes?; when (if at all) is a local authority liable for negligence or breach of statutory duty?; can a local authority be liable in tort for breach of an EC Directive?; do the police owe a duty of care to the owner of property in police custody?; do the fire brigade owe a duty of care to the owner's property in the vicinity of a fire?; how (if at all) is "White vs Jones" affected by the Law Reform Act (Husband and Wife) Act (NI) 1964?Other questions examined include: can a director of a family company be personally liable if the company was not properly insured for employers' liability purposes?; what is the difference between primary and secondary victims of nervous shock?; are police officers entitled to damages for nervous shock sustained in the course of their employment?; can an employee recover damages if put under undue stress and pressure at work?; does the grant of planning permission provide a defence to liability for nuisance?; what changes in Northern Ireland law have been made by the Defamation Act 1996?; can a public apology for publishing a defamatory statement be itself defamatory?; are newspaper readers expected to read the text of an article as well as the headlines?; and is wheel-clamping a tort?