Defences

A defendant to an action for trespass to the person may be able to rely on one or more of a number of defences, the principal ones being those set out below. Be aware that in these Notes (both here and elsewhere), a broad meaning of the term ‘Defences’ is adopted so as to include, for example, consent and contributory negligence. Others adopt a narrower approach. Goudkamp and Nolan, for example, distinguish between three different types of rules (see Winfleld & Jolowicz on Tort, 21st edn, 2025 at 22-001):

• Rules which ‘prevent liability from arising even if a cause of action exists’ – ie, ‘proper’ defences;
• Rules which operate to negative a cause of action, ie prevent a cause of action from arising in the first place – so-called denials;
• Rules which merely affect the remedy to which a claimant is entitled, eg, contributory negligence, mitigation and some types of exclusion clauses.