‘Summary of Chapter 4 Occupiers of land owe a duty to people who come onto the land, under two Acts: ‘© The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 covers their duty to visitors ‘© The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 covers their duty to trespassers. ‘An occupier is the person who controls the land or premises, and need not be the owner. The key question is whether a person exercises a sufficient degree of control to allow or prevent others entering. The Acts apply to land, buildings and any fixed or movable structure. Liability to visitors AA visitor is someone with express or implied permission to enter. People using rights of way, of the right to roam under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 are not visitors. The 1957 Act ‘© imposes a duty to ‘take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe’; ‘© requires occupiers to be prepared for children to be less careful than adults; ‘© entitles occupiers to expect that people entering for work purposes will be aware of any risks that normally arise from their work; ‘© provides that occupiers are not liable for risks caused by independent contractors, if it ‘was reasonable to entrust the work to them, and reasonable steps were taken to check their competence and the work done; ‘© provides that people entering under a contractual right are in the same position as others, unless the contract provides for a higher standard than the statutory duty. Defences under the 1957 Act: © Contributory negligence © Volenti © Use of warnings ‘© Exclusion of the duty of care (subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977) Damages can be claimed for personal injury or damage to property, but not economic loss. Liability to trespassers The 1984 Act imposes a duty to take such care as is reasonable in the circumstances to see that trespassers do not suffer injury on the premises ‘by reason of any danger due to the state of the premises or to things done or omitted to be done on them’. In practice this is very similar to the duty owed to visitors. However, the duty only applies where: ‘© the occupier knows about or has reason to believe a danger exists; ‘© the occupier knows or has reason to believe that the trespasser is or may come within the vicinity of the danger; and W7 AMNgey ,S421dn299 @Reading on the Internet 178 «© the risk is one which the occupier can reasonably be expected to offer protection from, considering all the circumstances A trespasser is anyone who goes onto land without permission, where the occupier objects to, or does not know of, their presence there, Defences under the 1984 Act: © Contributory negligence © Volenti © Use of warnings. It is unclear whether the duty can be excluded Damages can only be claimed for personal injury, not damage to property. Reading list Hopkins, C (2002) ‘Occupiers' liability: unheeded warnings’ 61 Cambridge Law Journal 499 Reading on the Internet The House of Lords judgment in Tomlinson v Congleton (2003) can be read at: http://www-publications.parliament.uk/pa/1d200203 /Idjudgmt/jd030731/tomlin-1.htm ‘The Court of Appeal judgment in Donaghue v Folkestone Properties (2003) can be read at http://www. bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2003/ 231.html&query=Donoghue&method=all ‘The Court of Appeal judgment in Clare v Perry (2005) can be read at: http://alpha.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2005/39.html ‘The Court of Appeal judgment in Keown v Conventry (2006) can be read at: http://www. bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2006/39. html cepacia, mytcharer referenced in this chapter: ‘Tomlinson v Congleton Borough Council (2003) Use Case Navigator to read in full some ofthe key cases