CPLC Seminar series: 'Malice and the Development of Tort Law'

Speaker: Dr Stelios Tofaris (University of Cambridge) (title TBC)

At the end of the nineteenth century, English judges engaged in a debate of considerable significance for the development of tort law. The question debated was whether English law ought to recognise a general liability in tort for malicious injury. The view that prevailed was that it ought not to. Malice was thereafter confined to the margins, where it remains an essential element of liability in a limited number of torts. Even so, questions persist about its meaning and role. Against this background, the paper explores the discussion of malice in three specific contexts: the nineteenth century debate over tortious liability for malicious injury; the tort of malicious prosecution, expanded in Willers v Joyce (No 1) [2016] UKSC 43; and the tort of lawful means conspiracy, affirmed in JSC BTA Bank v Khrapunov [2018] UKSC 19. The paper aims to shed light on the factors that shape the judicial development of tort law, including the pursuit of certainty and justice and the role of history.

Open to Faculty members, visitors, invitees and LLM/MCL/PhD students only.

Sandwiches served in G24 from 12.30pm; seminar to commence at 1-2pm.

We hope that you can make it to these exciting events: Eugene Shevchuk & Fleur Stolker (Convenors)

The Cambridge Private Law Centre acknowledges with gratitude the generous financial support of XXIV Old Buildings.