PVL3703
EXAM
PACK
2024
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PVL 3703 – LAW OF DELICT
MAY/JUNE 2022
EXAMINATION
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QUESTION 1
John works in the control tower at the Take flight Airport. He suffers from a rare
disease that causes unexpected blackouts. However, he is on prescription medicine
that effectively eliminates the possibility of the blackouts. On one particular day, he
does not take his medicine. In the control tower, he has a blackout and is unable to
ive the necessary instructions to departing and arriving aircraft. A catastrophic
airplane accident takes place during his blackout because no instructions
wereforthcoming. A potential plaintiff approaches you for a legal opinion.
Write an opinion on the question whether John’s behaviour qualified as conduct for
the purpose of delictual liability. (10)
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Conduct is defined as a voluntary human act or omission. “Voluntary” means that the
person must be able to control his muscular movements by means of his will. The act
of the wrongdoer must be voluntary to give rise to delictual liability. Conditions that
may cause a person to act involuntarily as they render him incapable of controlling his
bodily movements: absolute compulsion (vis absoluta), sleep, unconsciousness,
fainting fit, epileptic fit, serious intoxication, blackout, reflex movements, strong
emotional pressure, mental disease, hypnosis, and a heart attack.
However, John had been receiving medical treatment for a diagnosed illness but
failed to take his prescribed medication on that particular occasion. He therefore
intentionally placed himself in a mechanical state (actio libera in causa). Actio libera
in causa: Defence of automatism won’t succeed if defendant intentionally created the
situation in which he acts involuntarily in order to harm another. The defendant will be
held liable for his culpable conduct in creating the state of automatism which resulted
in damage to the plaintiff.
John was negligent regarding his automatic “conduct.” Where the reasonable man
would’ve foreseen the possibility of causing harm while in a state of automatism, e.g.
in Victor case, X was convicted of negligent driving despite causing the accident
during an epileptic fit, as he’d been suffering fits for 13 years and the reasonable man
would’ve foreseen the possibility of causing harm while in a state of automatism. In
this case, John knew he may have a blackout if his medication was taken.
Only the voluntary act closest to the harmful consequence is of relevance, and it’s
therefore unnecessary to consider prior voluntary acts.
John placed himself in a mechanical state by not taking his medication Thus, John
was probably negligent, or could even have had intention in the form of dolus
eventualis.
QUESTION 2
At the Shop-Till-You-Drop Shopping Mall, hand sanitizer dispensers have been
installed at all the pedestrian entrances. Notices have been placed near the
dispensers, in which customers are urged to sanitize their hands at the dispensers
before entering the mall. At Entrance B, the dispenser has been malfunctioning for
Distribution of this document is
EXAM
PACK
2024
, Stuvia.com - The study-notes
PVL 3703 – LAW OF DELICT
MAY/JUNE 2022
EXAMINATION
Downloaded by: mickaylasmal |
, Stuvia.com - The study-notes
QUESTION 1
John works in the control tower at the Take flight Airport. He suffers from a rare
disease that causes unexpected blackouts. However, he is on prescription medicine
that effectively eliminates the possibility of the blackouts. On one particular day, he
does not take his medicine. In the control tower, he has a blackout and is unable to
ive the necessary instructions to departing and arriving aircraft. A catastrophic
airplane accident takes place during his blackout because no instructions
wereforthcoming. A potential plaintiff approaches you for a legal opinion.
Write an opinion on the question whether John’s behaviour qualified as conduct for
the purpose of delictual liability. (10)
Downloaded by: mickaylasmal |
, Stuvia.com - The study-notes
Conduct is defined as a voluntary human act or omission. “Voluntary” means that the
person must be able to control his muscular movements by means of his will. The act
of the wrongdoer must be voluntary to give rise to delictual liability. Conditions that
may cause a person to act involuntarily as they render him incapable of controlling his
bodily movements: absolute compulsion (vis absoluta), sleep, unconsciousness,
fainting fit, epileptic fit, serious intoxication, blackout, reflex movements, strong
emotional pressure, mental disease, hypnosis, and a heart attack.
However, John had been receiving medical treatment for a diagnosed illness but
failed to take his prescribed medication on that particular occasion. He therefore
intentionally placed himself in a mechanical state (actio libera in causa). Actio libera
in causa: Defence of automatism won’t succeed if defendant intentionally created the
situation in which he acts involuntarily in order to harm another. The defendant will be
held liable for his culpable conduct in creating the state of automatism which resulted
in damage to the plaintiff.
John was negligent regarding his automatic “conduct.” Where the reasonable man
would’ve foreseen the possibility of causing harm while in a state of automatism, e.g.
in Victor case, X was convicted of negligent driving despite causing the accident
during an epileptic fit, as he’d been suffering fits for 13 years and the reasonable man
would’ve foreseen the possibility of causing harm while in a state of automatism. In
this case, John knew he may have a blackout if his medication was taken.
Only the voluntary act closest to the harmful consequence is of relevance, and it’s
therefore unnecessary to consider prior voluntary acts.
John placed himself in a mechanical state by not taking his medication Thus, John
was probably negligent, or could even have had intention in the form of dolus
eventualis.
QUESTION 2
At the Shop-Till-You-Drop Shopping Mall, hand sanitizer dispensers have been
installed at all the pedestrian entrances. Notices have been placed near the
dispensers, in which customers are urged to sanitize their hands at the dispensers
before entering the mall. At Entrance B, the dispenser has been malfunctioning for
Distribution of this document is
