Letang v. Cooper

"Letang v. Cooper" [1964] 2 All ER 292 is an English Court of Appeal judgment, by which it was decided that negligently caused personal injury cannot be recovered under the tort of Trespass to the Person, but the tort of Negligence must be tried instead.

Facts

Mr Cooper (the defendant) has negligently run over the Mrs Letang (the plaintiff) in his car while she was sunbathing on a piece of grass where cars were parked. The plaintiff filed a claim in trespass to the person, because the claim in Negligence was time-barred. Tresspass to the person is a tort involving wrongful direct interference with another person and traditionally included both intentional and negligent acts.

Judgment

The Court of Appeal, consisting of Lord Denning MR, Diplock LJ and Danckwerts LJ, held unanimously that since Mr Cooper's actions were negligent rather than intentional, the statute of limitations barring claims actions for damage caused by negligence applied. Mrs Letang could not recover her damages because her claim was late.

Effect

The effect of this case was that an action for trespass to the person can now only be brought for intentional torts, such as assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land or chattels, etc. A claimant wishing to recover damages to his person or property that were caused by the defendant's negligent action must prove all the elements of the tort of negligence.