Economic Torts in UK Law
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OBG Ltd and another v Allan and Others
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To be liable for inducing breach of contract, you must know that you are inducing a breach of contract. It is not enough that you know that you are procuring an act which, as a matter of law or construction of the contract, is a breach. Nor does it matter that you ought reasonably to have done so. He took the information in the honest belief that the employee would not be in breach of contract.
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Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed Company v Veitch
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It is enough to say that if there is more than one purpose actuating a combination, liability must depend on ascertaining the predominant purpose. If that predominant purpose is to damage another person and damage results, that is tortious conspiracy. If the predominant purpose is the lawful protection or promotion of any lawful interest of the combiners (no illegal means being employed), it is not a tortious conspiracy, even though it causes damage to another person.
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Lonrho Plc (Original Respondents and Cross-Appellants) v Fayed and Others (Original Appellants and Cross-Respondents) (First Appeal); Lonrho Plc (Original Respondents and Cross-Appellants) v Fayed and Others (Original Appellants and Cross-Respondents) (Second Appeal)
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But when conspirators intentionally injure the plaintiff and use unlawful means to do so, it is no defence for them to show that their primary purpose was to further or protect their own interests; it is sufficient to make their action tortious that the means used were unlawful.
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HM Revenue and Customs v Total Network SL
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The circumstances must be such as to make the conduct sufficiently reprehensible to justify imposing on those who have brought about the harm liability in damages for having done so. Bearing that in mind, the proposition that a combination of two or more people to carry out a scheme that is criminal in its nature and is intended to cause economic harm to some person does not, when carried out with that result, constitute a tort actionable by that person is, in my opinion, unacceptable.
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JSC BTA Bank v Khrapunov
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The successful pursuit of commercial self-interest necessarily entails the risk of damaging the commercial interests of others. Identifying the point at which it transgresses legitimate bounds is therefore a task of exceptional delicacy. The elements of the four established economic torts are carefully defined so as to avoid trespassing on legitimate business activities or imposing any wider liability than can be justified in principle.
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Michael Douglas (1st Respondent) Catherine Zeta-Jones (2nd Respondent) Nothern & Shell Plc (3rd Respondent) v Hello Ltd (1st Appellant) Hola S.A. (2nd Appellant) Eduardo Sanchez Junco (3rd Appellant)
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Professor Weir and most other writers, including Hazel Carty and Messrs Sales and Stilitz, are of the view that the gist of all the economic torts is the intentional infliction of economic harm. It is, however, very different from knowledge that economic harm will follow as a result of incidental consequences of conduct, when those consequences are not necessary steps in achieving the object of the conduct and are unsought.
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Meretz Investments NV v ACP Ltd
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Although my conclusion on the issue of unlawful means makes it unnecessary to decide the point, I would support Arden LJ's view at [127] that it is a defence to an action for conspiracy to injure by unlawful means if the defendant not only acted to protect his own interests, but did so in the belief that he had a lawful right to act as he did.
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Rethinking the Economic Torts
We propose a revised conceptual basis for the economic torts which is true to their historical role of regulating the competitive process. Claims that the economic torts are part of a wider princip...
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Reviews
Books reviewed: Foster, The Ethics of Medical Research on Humans Vidmar, World Jury Systems Simpson, Human Rights and the End of Empire. Britain and the Genesis of the European Convention Carty, An...
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Reviews
Books reviewed: McCoubrey: The Obligations to Obey in Legal Theory Halpin: Rights and Law: Analysis and Theory Harrison: Good Faith in Sales Weir: Economic Torts Prosser: Law and the Regulators Goo...
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Libel: Its Purpose and Reform
Discussion of libel often fails to define defamation law's purpose and thus properly to assess its value. This article argues that defamation's purpose relates to fundamental human interests in soc...
- Environmental Torts And Pure Economic Loss
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Court of Appeal Sets Aside Order for Disclosure of Unredacted Commission Decision and Orders Strike Out of Economic Tort-Based Claims
On 14 October 2015 the Court of Appeal (CoA) handed down its judgment on appeals against orders made by Peter Smith J arising out of an alleged cartel for airfreight services. First, the CoA said t...
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Michael Douglas Photo Exclusive And Other Stories
...House of Lords re-defines the law on economic torts and commercial confidentiality: OBG v Allan; Douglas v Hello! ......
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2020 Will See More Torts In Courts For Construction Cases
...... When pursuing a potential breach of contract in construction cases, economic torts have not typically been the first port of call for a chosen course of action. Economic tort claims (raised where a defendant has caused ......