Liability
Occupiers Liability for Dangerous Premises
Occupiers' liability is a field of tort law, codified in statute, which concerns the duty of care that those who occupy (through ownership or lease) real property owe to people who visit or trespass. It deals with liability that may arise from accidents caused by the defective or dangerous condition of the premises. By the expression “Premises” in the context of this topic is meant, not only, land and buildings but also vehicles, railway carriages, scaffolding and the like. The expression thus includes certain type of movable properties the distinguishing features of which, speaking generally, under the present topic is that the defendant remains in control of them and the plaintiff suffers injury by entering into them. The liability of occupiers of premises, except in relation to trespassers, is now governed under the English Law by the Occupiers Liability Act, 1957 which was enacted as a result of the report of a Law Reform Committee in 1952. The liability towards trespassers has also undergone considerable change by a liberal judicial approach in recent years and later by the Occupiers Liability Act, 1984.
Who is an “Occupier”? Neither of the Occupiers' Liability Acts define "occupier". The definition must be sought in case law. The currently applicable test for the status of "occupier" is the degree of occupational control. The more control one has over certain premises, the more likely he is to be considered "occupier" for the purposes of the two Occupiers' Liability Acts. More than one person at the same time can have the status of occupier. Both tenants and licensees will be occupiers of property where they live. Licensees will usually share the status of occupier with the owner. Owners of let property will be occupiers of those areas, which they have not let by, demise and over which they have retained control (such as the common staircase in flat building). If the tenancy agreement imposes upon the owner the
Occupiers' liability is a field of tort law, codified in statute, which concerns the duty of care that those who occupy (through ownership or lease) real property owe to people who visit or trespass. It deals with liability that may arise from accidents caused by the defective or dangerous condition of the premises. By the expression “Premises” in the context of this topic is meant, not only, land and buildings but also vehicles, railway carriages, scaffolding and the like. The expression thus includes certain type of movable properties the distinguishing features of which, speaking generally, under the present topic is that the defendant remains in control of them and the plaintiff suffers injury by entering into them. The liability of occupiers of premises, except in relation to trespassers, is now governed under the English Law by the Occupiers Liability Act, 1957 which was enacted as a result of the report of a Law Reform Committee in 1952. The liability towards trespassers has also undergone considerable change by a liberal judicial approach in recent years and later by the Occupiers Liability Act, 1984.
Who is an “Occupier”? Neither of the Occupiers' Liability Acts define "occupier". The definition must be sought in case law. The currently applicable test for the status of "occupier" is the degree of occupational control. The more control one has over certain premises, the more likely he is to be considered "occupier" for the purposes of the two Occupiers' Liability Acts. More than one person at the same time can have the status of occupier. Both tenants and licensees will be occupiers of property where they live. Licensees will usually share the status of occupier with the owner. Owners of let property will be occupiers of those areas, which they have not let by, demise and over which they have retained control (such as the common staircase in flat building). If the tenancy agreement imposes upon the owner the