Cases and Commentary on Tort Law

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Authors: Barbara Harvey & John Marston

Price: £31.99

Edition: 6th Edition (March 2009)

ISBN: 978-0-19-929612-5

Buy from OUP: Click Here

Tort law is, of course, a topic primarily developed (but not exclusively) by case-law developments.  A solid understanding of the key tort cases is therefore fundamental to anyone studying tort law: without it, high marks will be difficult to achieve.  Among the considerable number of tort law casebooks is Cases and Commentary on Tort, which is now in its sixth edition.  It aims to "provide a useful collection of primary sources for undergraduate students".  While it does that, it also provides some important comments on key cases which draw together the important legal principles.

Written by two experienced academics, Cases and Commentary on Tort Law is separated into fifteen wide-ranging chapters: duty I - general principles; duty II - particular claimants; duty III - economic loss; breach of duty; causation and remoteness; defences to negligence; occupiers' liability; product liability; liability for animals; trespass to the person; trespass to land; nuisances and Rylands v Fletcher; personal privacy; defamation; and vicarious liability.  There is, of course, a considerable focus on negligence in the context of personal injury but it is refreshing to see a new chapter on personal privacy which is quickly become a popular topic on undergraduate tort law courses.

Each extract is usually accompanied by a number of comments allowing the reader to consider the important principles and relevant cases.  These are also useful as they pull together principles from similar cases so the reader understands how the common law works: this is a vital lesson for inexperienced lawyers.  Less often, the authors pose, where relevant, a number of questions to test the reader's understanding.  Unfortunately, these questions do not have answers which could be usefully contained at the end of the text or online: the reader is therefore left wondering whether his or her answer is complete.

As the authors candidly accept, Cases and Commentary on Tort Law is not designed to replace a traditional tort law text.  Instead, it should be used to support and guide the reader through the important case-law by drawing together the key passages.  To that extent, it does a fine job.  It also admirably tackles some of the important issues currently going through the Courts.  For example, following the banking crisis there is a considerable amount of litigation, both by the bank's customers and by banks against surveyors and solicitors for negligence, dealing with issues over the scope of a duty of care and causation.  It may have been useful to sign-post, for example, statutory duties which go with financial selling of products (including COBS, MCOB and ICOBS) to allow students to undertake further reading to compare common law claims with breach of statutory duty claims.  Cases and Commentary on Tort Law is, however, a very useful addition to anyone's library.

Reviewed on 1 January 2012

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