Law Legal Studies

Legal Principles and Remedies

1,705 Questions

This hub provides practice questions on tort liability, professional negligence, and compensatory damages. It covers key legal principles related to contracts, product liability, and defenses like comparative negligence. These topics are vital for law students and candidates preparing for judiciary examinations.

Tort and vicarious liabilityNegligence and professional liabilityCompensatory and punitive damagesContract breach remediesLegal defense strategies

Legal Principles and Remedies Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the correct statement? Vicarious liability means:

  1. Liability without fault

  2. Servant's liability for the wrong of the master

  3. Master's liability for the wrong of servant

  4. Damage which could not
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Vicarious liability means a master (employer/principal) is held liable for the wrongful acts committed by their servant (employee/agent) in the course of employment. It's not 'liability without fault' (that's strict liability) and it's the opposite of servant being liable for master's wrongs.

Multiple choice

In the Nash Vs. Inman case, the issue was:

  1. minor's liability

  2. frustration

  3. fraud

  4. misrepresentation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Nash v Inman (1908) established that minors are not liable for non-necessary goods. A college student tailor-made clothes but refused to pay, claiming they weren't necessaries. The court held him not liable - necessaries must be suitable to the minor's actual station in life.

Multiple choice

If A gives lift in his car to B upto a certain place and on the way due to negligence of A an accident is caused. A has:

  1. no responsibility towards B

  2. no legal duty to take care of B's safety

  3. a legal duty to take care of B also and is liable for compensation.

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

When A gives a lift to B, even gratuitously, A assumes a legal duty of care toward B's safety. A's negligence causing the accident makes A liable for compensation. This principle extends duty of care beyond contractual relationships to situations where one person voluntarily takes responsibility for another's safety. The duty arises from the assumption of responsibility, not from any payment.

Multiple choice

Mark the correct answer in the following statements:

  1. Dangerous goods arise on proof of negligence

  2. Strict liability arises only when the thing causing harm escapes

  3. Liability for dangerous goods in India is absolute

  4. Liability for dangerous goods in India is strict
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

It is also essential that the thing causing harm must escape from the premises of the defendant. It should not be within the reach of the defendant after its escape.

Multiple choice

In which of the following cases the plea of volenti non fit Injuria can be taken:

  1. rescue cases

  2. plaintiff has knowledge of the risk

  3. plaintiff is employed in the job involving risk

  4. plaintiff had knowledge and volunteered to take the risk
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Volenti non fit injuria is a defence in tort that means where a person engages in an event accepting and aware of the risks inherent in that event, then they cannot later seek compensation for an injury suffered during the event. Where the plaintiff had knowledge and volunteered to take the risk, the plea of volenti non fit Injuria can be taken. 

Multiple choice

The justification of Civil liability for acts prima fade wrongful are based principally upon:

  1. Private grounds

  2. Public grounds

  3. Both private and public grounds

  4. Equitable grounds
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Civil liability for wrongful acts is primarily based on equitable principles - fairness, justice, and good conscience. Unlike criminal liability (public grounds) or purely private disputes, civil law seeks to restore balance and provide compensation based on equity. Private grounds protect individual rights, public grounds protect society, but civil liability combines concerns through equity.

Multiple choice

Tort is a violation of

  1. Right in personam

  2. Right in rem

  3. Both A and B

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

A tort is a civil wrong that violates a right in rem - a right available against the whole world (like property rights or right to bodily integrity). Rights in personam are rights against specific individuals arising from contracts or agreements.

Multiple choice

“Tortious liability arises from the breach of a duty primarily fixed by law: this duty is towards persons generally and its breach is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages”- This statement is made by:

  1. Salmond

  2. Winfield

  3. Dias

  4. Julius Stone
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Dias defined tortious liability as arising from breach of a duty fixed by law, owed to persons generally, and redressible by unliquidated damages. This distinguishes tort from contract (where duty arises from agreement between parties) and crime (where duty is owed to society and punishable by the state). The three key elements are: duty imposed by law (not agreement), duty owed to persons generally (not specific individuals), and remedy is unliquidated damages (compensation determined by court).

Multiple choice

In which of the following cases the House of Lords held that 'volenti non fit injuria' had no application to harm sustained by a workman from the negligence of his employers in not warning him of the moment of a recurring danger, although the man knew and understood that he personally ran risk of injury if and when the danger did occur.

  1. Smith Vs. Baker

  2. Hynes Vs. Harwood

  3. Lane Vs. Holloway

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In Smith v. Baker (1891), the House of Lords held that volenti non fit injuria (voluntary assumption of risk) did not apply to a workman injured by his employer's negligence in not warning him of danger. Even though the workman knew and understood he ran a personal risk, this was not consent to the employer's negligence. The doctrine applies to risks inherent in the work, not to failures to take reasonable care. The employer must still warn of recurring dangers, not just assume knowledge equals consent.

Multiple choice

Principle of law in Hadley V Baxendae related to:

  1. Quasi - Contract

  2. Fraud

  3. Special Damages

  4. Unjust Enrichment
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Hadley v Baxendale (1854) established the principle of 'special damages' or 'consequential damages' in contract law. It held that a party can only recover damages that were reasonably foreseeable at the time of contract formation or that arise from special circumstances made known to the party in breach. This 'foreseeability test' limits liability for remote consequences.

Multiple choice

For the negligence of skillful and qualified persons such as doctors or engineers, an employer is liable even though they are not under his control. The above statement is in reference to the tort of

  1. Strict liability

  2. Negligence

  3. Vicarious liability

  4. Damnum sine injuria
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Vicarious liability holds an employer responsible for torts committed by employees during employment, even if the employer wasn't directly supervising or controlling the specific acts. This applies to skilled professionals like doctors and engineers whose expertise the employer benefits from. Strict liability (A) applies without regard to fault, negligence (B) requires breach of duty, and damnum sine injuria (D) means harm without legal injury.

Multiple choice

While adjudging the quantum of compensation, the adjudicating officer shall have due regard to

  1. the amount of gain of unfair advantage, whenever quantifiable, made as a result of the default

  2. the amount of loss caused to any person as a result of the default

  3. the repetitive nature of the default

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Section 47 of the Information Technology Act states that while adjudging the quantum of compensation under this Chapter, the adjudicating officer shall have due regard to the following factors: (a) The amount of gain of unfair advantage, wherever quantifiable, made as a result of the default (b) The amount of loss caused to any person as a result of the default (c) The repetitive nature of the default