over which the plaintiff stumbles and is injured, this under the old Forms of Action period would be covered by the Writ of Trespass on the case : injury being indirect (not resulting from a direct act of the defendant).Other examples of indirect injuries and hence under the purview of Trespass on the case , include where the defendant defames the plaintiff. Here the direct act of the defendant was defaming, injury is consequential. It is different from a situation where the defendant slaps the plaintiff (injury is direct, forcible and immediate). Always bear in mind that first on the scene was the writ of Trespass and later came the writ of Trespass on the Case . The two writs were ancestors of all other Torts we know of today. From the writ of trespass we have today a group of Tortious Liabilities referred to in our Study Manual as Intentional Torts (Trespass to Person action of Assault, Battery and False Imprisonment; Trespass to Land and Property). From the writ of Trespass on the Case were born the modern Law of Contract, Tort of Negligence, Tort of Nuisance, Vicarious Liability, to mention but a few liabilities.
48 Law Responding to Socio-economic Changes in Society Writs system, Law of Torts and indeed the whole of Common Law developed and responded to the socio-economic changes taking place in the English society. Originally, for instance, a
