Explain the law of negligence as it relates to pure psychiatric harm and secondary victims TMA 02 Introduction TMA 02 consists of three questions. You are expected to answer all questions in this TMA. Your answers should be written in your own words.
The total word limit for TMA 02 is 1750 words. All the words you use to answer the questions, including quotations and citations, are included in your word count. You must include an accurate word count at the end of your answer.
It is recommended that you answer the questions using approximately the number of words shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Recommended word count for each question Question 1a
10
200
Question 1b
50
800
Question 2
30
450
Question 3
10
300
Where a question has more than one part, marks are equally divided between the parts unless otherwise stated. Any words used that exceed the overall word count for the TMA will not be marked or commented on. You must provide a reference list and a word count. The reference list is not included in the word count.
The Guidance section contains information on how to approach this assessment. You should read the advice pages carefully before beginning work on this TMA. Note that you are provided both general advice and advice specific to each question.
This TMA falls into category 2 meaning you may use Generative AI to assist, but you are not required to do so. Please ensure that you have read this guidance before you begin your TMA and that you comply with it. The guidance explains how Generative AI can be used, but explains that it should not be used to write your answer for you, it is there to support your learning. If you use Generative AI, you must submit an appendix summarising how you used it. The appendix will not count towards the word count of this assessment.
Learning outcomes This TMA will allow you to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding: explain the law of negligence as it relates to pure psychiatric harm and secondary victims
explain the principles of duty of care and breach of duty in negligence.
Skills: present a summary of a reasoned argument in the form of an essay plan
develop and structure arguments in response to an essay question
use IRAC to answer a legal problem question
communicate ideas clearly and concisely in writing
reflect on your own learning and development.
Questions The following pages set out the questions for this assignment.
You must ensure that you have read the learning outcomes and the advice given for these questions before starting work on your assignment.
Question 1 Read the essay question below and then answer parts (a) and (b).
With reference to relevant module materials and case law, explain the distinction drawn between primary and secondary victims where pure psychiatric harm is concerned, and consider whether the development of the law on psychiatric damage has led to the harsh treatment of secondary victims.
Draft an essay plan for this question. (10 marks)
Using your essay plan, write a full answer to the question. (50 marks)
Question 2 Emad slipped badly and fell while walking on the pavement outside Wholly Earthy, an organic grocery. In the fall, Emad broke his leg and was unable to work as a salesperson for a number of months. The reason for his slip was a mixture of olive oil and water on the pavement. Initially, olive oil had leaked onto the pavement from a faulty container after being left there by a wholesale supplier. Tabitha, the owner, had asked Sally, a 13-year-old doing work experience at Wholly Earthy, to clean up the olive oil leak. However, Sally mopped the spill with cold water, making the pavement even more slippery. Emad approached Tabitha directly. Tabitha accepts that Emads injuries were caused by the slip on the oil and water mixture, but denies that Wholly Earthy owed a duty of care to Emad, arguing that the failure to clear up the oil was an omission not an act and also denies that Wholly Earthy breached any duty of care, arguing that because of Sallys youth and inexperience, Sally should not be expected to know how to clean up olive oil. Advise Emad whether Wholly Earthy owed him a duty of care, and whether it breached any duty of care. Assume that Wholly Earthy is vicariously liable for Sally. (30 marks)
Question 3 Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, reflect on the approach you took when planning and writing your essay in Question 1.
Explain with examples, whether the approach you took to your planning and writing was successful or whether there are any improvements you seek to make for future essay writing assignments. (10 marks)
Guidance The Law undergraduate guide contains definitions of words used in TMA questions. You should read this guide before attempting TMA 02. Note that Section 7.3 of the guide tells you how your TMAs need to be presented and Section 12 of the guide details the marking scale, against which your work will be assessed.
Answer each question separately, numbering them clearly.
Read the questions carefully.
Answer all three questions.
In order to avoid plagiarism, ensure that you answer each question concisely and clearly in your own words and also acknowledge the sources of information used in your answers, using the Law School’s preferred referencing styles of OSCOLA and Harvard.
All of your answers should be written in full sentences and paragraphs. They should not include any sort of list with the exception of the essay plan in Question 1(a) where you should follow the specific instructions.
In your answers to Questions 1 and 2, you should not write in the first or second person (e.g. ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘my’, ‘our’, ‘you’ or ‘your’); instead you should use phrases such as ‘A person is …’ or ‘This answer will …’.
Question 3 is a personal reflection and so should be written in the first person using ‘I’ or ‘my’.
You should check your TMA carefully before submission, ensuring that you correct any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Remember to provide a reference list at the end of your assignment and to include a word count.
No marks are awarded for referencing on this TMA, but you should ensure that as a matter of good practice that you acknowledge all sources used in your work and that you include both in-text citations and full references in a reference list at the end of your work. You should also include, in footnotes, the full citations of any cases or statutes that you include in your answers. Your tutor will give feedback on this aspect of your work.
Question 1 guidance For part (a) of the question, you are asked to provide an essay plan. When writing your essay plan, it is important that you do not write an essay, but equally it is important that you do not write a plan that is so rough that the reader is unable to see what the content of your essay, that you are writing in part (b), will be. You can use bullet points when outlining what your planned content is, or you may find setting out the plan as a numbered, or sub-numbered list helpful.
Although part (a) is an essay plan, where you plan to cite cases or legislation, you should accurately include the full name and the relevant case citations or sections from legislation in your footnotes like you would if you were writing an essay. Footnotes are not included in your word count. If you are unsure about how to use footnotes, refer to the ‘Cite Them Right version of OSCOLA’ by following the link. Your answers may also include material from the unit materials or from the textbook. If you wish to refer to the unit materials, you should include a reference suffix, and a full reference in the reference list.
You should outline how your essay should be structured using the advice on answering essay questions provided in Section 6.1.3 of the Law undergraduate guide (LUG) and Section 9 of Unit 2. You will also find it helpful to look at essay structure using the ‘Structuring an essay’ page, which goes into more depth and continues on from the LUG.
In your plan, you should outline the points you plan to make in the body of your essay (your main argument), and what your conclusion will be.
Your plan should be structured in a way so that you can explain, with reference to relevant module materials and case law, the distinction drawn between primary and secondary victims where pure psychiatric harm is concerned. The question also asks you to consider whether the development of the law on psychiatric damage has led to the harsh treatment of secondary victims. Your plan should clearly demonstrate such consideration, ensuring that you reach a reasoned conclusion as to the treatment of secondary victims.
Throughout the plan, you should follow the advice in the Law Undergraduate Guide on answering essay questions to help you to decide what information to include in each section.
Question 1(b) is an essay question. Use your essay plan from Question 1(a) in the development of your essay. Include an appropriate introduction, main body and conclusion as detailed in Section 6.1.3 of the Law undergraduate guide and Section 9 of Unit 2.
For both part (a) and part (b) you should use the module materials. Unit 8 contains the information you will need. You may also find Chapter 5 of Horsey and Rackley (2023) useful.
Words used in assessments are defined in Section 6.2 of the Law undergraduate guide – please consult these before you start to write your TMA.
Question 2 guidance Question 2 is a problem-style question. This type of question requires you to use the IRAC structure to correctly structure your answer. Your answer to the question should use the full IRAC method rather than IRAC tables. You should use full sentences and your answer should be in continuous prose. You should not use bullet points, or any kind of table or list.
You were introduced to problem-style questions in Section 7 of Unit 3, where you were also introduced to the IRAC method in Sections 7.1 and 7.2. Further guidance on the use of the IRAC method is set out in the Law undergraduate guide.
When writing your answer, using IRAC, you need to include a very short introduction and overall conclusion as set out in the guidance for problem-style questions. You need to cite relevant case law, including providing case citations in the footnotes (which are not included in your word count). An example can be found in the Cite Them Right version of OSCOLA. It is important that you state clearly how the law applies and what your conclusion is. If you use information from the module materials, remember that you need to use suffixes in addition to the year for each chapter you rely on (e.g. 2026a), and include the full references in your final reference list.
The purpose of the question set is to test your knowledge and understanding of the law of negligence. You should use the module materials to answer this problem-style question. Unit 6 contains the information you will need.
You are required to establish whether Wholly Earthy owes a duty of care to Emad in this situation and whether, it breached any duty of care. In relation to breach, you will need to consider what standard of care could have been expected of Wholly Earthy in this situation.
Question 3 guidance This is a reflective question where you are expected to use Gibbs’ reflective cycle, which was introduced in Unit 1. Reflect on the approach you took to planning and writing the essay, and address what you might do differently in the future to improve your approach. You should give examples to support your answer to this question. You might have used a particular approach to answer the question or found that one approach was preferable to another. You might have found that you started with one approach but then used a different approach.
Finally When your marked TMA is returned, you should reflect on your tutor’s comments and make notes on anything you want to do differently for TMA 03.
Application of assessment guidance to this TMA The vertical columns in the table below provide information on how the knowledge and skills in each question will be evaluated when marking your work. The mark ranges and the necessary criteria to achieve the percentage in each range are in the descending rows (across). This is based on the general marking guidelines in Section 12 of the Law undergraduate guide