Legal Notes

Any legally unjustified detention of a plaintiff’s goods constitutes detinue. The plaintiff would have to prove that he had a right to immediate possession and that the defendant refused to hand them over on demand. Thus expressed, it becomes coterminous with the tort of conversion and is embraced by it. Generally, therefore, whenever C lies, […]

Introduction The law provides a series of actions for the protection of chattels against intentional interference. These actions can be fully understood in the context of the days when formalism and fiction filled the law — through the forms of action. For as Salmond said, the “forms of action are dead but their ghosts still

The rule created an action on the case for intentional infliction of physical harm by indirect means. Briefly put, it states that any act done willfully, calculated to cause and actually, causing physical harm to another (per Wright in Janvier v. Sweeney) is an actionable wrong, Elements These are: a) a deliberate or willful act

WHAT IS TRESPASS TO LAND? (Or Trespass quare ckmsiim fregit — Direct interference with land in possession of another). 1. This is the name of that species of wrongs redressible at common law by the old writ of trespass which deals with unjustifiable interference with land in the possession of another. In Blackstone’s Commentaries,’ we

The tort seeks to protect a person’s interest in freedom from physical restraint (i.e. protects freedom of movement) and therefore the right to move about freely and apparently also the plaintiffs belief in this freedom. This right is also protected by articles 14, 15, 21(l)(g); (2); (4); and (5) of the Constitution, 1992. As a

The tort seeks to protect two conflicting interests: a) On one hand, social policy demands that criminals are prosecuted, and again that individuals be free to help in this exercise. b) On the other hand, it is equally important that the individual’s freedom from unnecessary arrest and prosecution should be protected. NB: In false imprisonment,

What is Assault? Assault — This tort is unique in the common law in providing relief for a mere emotional disturbance unaccompanied by external physical contact. Assault seeks to protect the plaintiff’s interest in freedom from being subjected to mental anxiety. The law, i.e. the requirements, are substantially the same as that of battery, except

Everyone in Ghana is entitled to freedom from physical restraint and is protected against unlawful interference with his or her freedom of movement and personal liberty. The tort of unlawful arrest secures these freedoms. The law on unlawful arrest is to be found in three sources: (a) the common law; (b) the Criminal; Procedure Code,

The tort of battery is committed by the intentional application of force to another by direct means or through an unwelcome, physical contact, irrespective of whether intent to harm or hostility involved. The elements of this tort are: 1. Direct act of defendant– The defendants conduct must have caused the basis in the case of

What is a tort? Derived from the word tortus which means broken and twisted. It is a civil wrong and forms part of common law. Civil wrongs come in three ways: through an intentional act that harms the body and or property and includes assault, battery or trespass to land, through negligence which unintentionally causes