Sierra Leone Law School Entrance Examination

A shop displays a radio with a price tag. Under the ordinary common law rule for shop displays, how should the display be classified?

• AAn offer accepted when a customer picks up the radio
• BAn invitation for a customer to make an offer to buy
• CA unilateral offer accepted by entering the shop
• DAn offer that the shop can revoke only by giving each customer notice

A debtor pays part of an undisputed debt in cash on its due date. Considering the common law consideration rule in Foakes v Beer, and putting deeds and estoppel aside, what is the effect of the creditor's promise to forgive the balance?

• AThe promise binds because receiving some money is always fresh consideration
• BA signed ordinary receipt makes fresh consideration unnecessary
• CPart payment alone does not provide consideration for the promise to forgive the balance
• DThe debtor's existing duty to pay is extinguished by making any payment

Two friends casually agree to share the cost of an informal dinner. What is the usual common law starting point when assessing their intention to create legal relations?

• AEvery promise involving money is presumed legally binding
• BSocial agreements are incapable of becoming contracts even with clear contrary evidence
• CA written record alone conclusively proves contractual intention
• DSocial arrangements are ordinarily presumed not to create legal relations, but the circum…

An offer permits acceptance by post, and neither its wording nor the circumstances displace the postal rule. When does a properly addressed acceptance normally become effective under that rule?

• AWhen it is properly posted
• BWhen the offeror reads it
• CWhen the offeree writes it but keeps it at home
• DWhen the offeror acknowledges receiving it

A contractual term is classified as innominate. Under the approach associated with Hongkong Fir Shipping, what principally determines whether its breach permits termination?

• AWhether the innocent party can prove any financial loss at all
• BWhether the consequences deprive the innocent party of substantially the whole contractua…
• CWhether the breach was deliberate, regardless of its consequences
• DWhether the term was written rather than implied

A seller knowingly makes a false factual statement to induce a purchase, and the buyer relies on it. How is the representation classified under the common law test in Derry v Peek?

• AInnocent misrepresentation because the buyer could have investigated
• BNegligent misrepresentation because every false statement is merely careless
• CFraudulent misrepresentation
• DNon-actionable opinion because it was made during negotiations

A supplier threatens to break an existing delivery contract unless the buyer signs a release of a valid claim. The buyer has no practical alternative and signs because of the threat. Which issue is most directly raised?

• AFrustration caused by an external event
• BCommon mistake about the existence of the goods
• CAn invitation to treat replacing the original contract
• DEconomic duress affecting consent to the release

A particular hall is hired for a concert but is accidentally destroyed before the event. Neither party is at fault, and the contract does not allocate this risk. Which doctrine most directly addresses the resulting impossibility?

• AFrustration of contract
• BRevocation of an unaccepted offer
• CMisrepresentation during negotiations
• DDischarge by completed performance

A carrier is told when contracting that late delivery of a unique machine part will stop the customer's factory. What is the significance of that information under Hadley v Baxendale?

• AIt guarantees recovery of every loss the customer later alleges
• BIt may bring otherwise unusual shutdown losses within the parties' reasonable contemplati…
• CIt is irrelevant because contractual damages can cover only ordinary losses
• DIt removes the customer's obligation to prove loss and causation

A contract promises a benefit to a third person who is not a party. Applying the ordinary common law privity rule, and assuming no statutory or equitable exception, what follows?

• AThe third person can enforce merely because the benefit is valuable
• BThe third person becomes a contracting party by learning of the promise
• CThe third person cannot enforce the promise simply because the contract benefits them
• DThe contracting parties lose their own enforcement rights once a third person is named

A main contractor promises extra payment to ensure timely completion by a subcontractor already obliged to do the work. Which additional facts best support consideration under Williams v Roffey Bros?

• AThe subcontractor supplies no practical benefit but merely asks for more money
• BThe promise is to forgive part of an existing cash debt rather than obtain completed work
• CThe extra promise is extracted by economic duress
• DThe contractor obtains a practical benefit from timely completion, and there is no fraud…

A guest concludes a hotel contract at reception. Only afterward does the guest see a bedroom notice excluding liability for lost belongings. There was no earlier notice or course of dealing. What is the strongest common law objection to incorporation?

• AThe exclusion was communicated after the contract was concluded
• BAny printed term is ineffective unless individually signed
• CA term concerning negligence can never form part of a contract
• DAn exclusion must be repeated on every receipt to be incorporated

Which idea is central to Lord Atkin's neighbour principle in Donoghue v Stevenson?

• AA manufacturer owes duties only to people who signed its sales contract
• BReasonable care is owed in relation to persons closely and directly affected whom one oug…
• CEvery foreseeable loss establishes a duty without considering the relationship between th…
• DA duty arises only where the defendant has personally touched the claimant

A person intentionally raises a fist so that another reasonably anticipates an immediate unlawful blow, but no contact occurs. Which common law tort is most directly illustrated?

• ABattery
• BFalse imprisonment
• CAssault
• DNegligence

What must be distinguished from mere knowledge of danger when considering volenti non fit injuria?

• AThe claimant's awareness that some injury was possible
• BThe claimant's failure to take reasonable care for personal safety
• CThe defendant's belief that the claimant would probably consent
• DThe claimant's free and informed acceptance of the relevant legal risk

When judging an ordinary adult defendant's conduct in negligence, which standard is ordinarily used?

• AThe care of a reasonable person in the relevant circumstances
• BWhatever care the defendant personally considered sufficient
• CPerfect avoidance of every conceivable risk
• DThe claimant's preferred standard, whether reasonable or not

A doctor negligently fails to examine a poisoned patient. Reliable evidence establishes that the patient would have died at the same time even with proper treatment. Applying the ordinary 'but for' test to the death, what follows?

• ABreach of duty alone proves liability for the death
• BThe breach has not been shown to be a factual cause of the death
• CProfessional status makes the hospital strictly liable for every death
• DThe patient's death automatically reverses the burden of proving causation

Under the negligence remoteness approach in The Wagon Mound, what must ordinarily have been reasonably foreseeable?

• AThe precise sequence of every event leading to the injury
• BThe exact monetary value of the eventual claim
• CThe type or kind of damage suffered
• DThe precise severity of the claimant's eventual injury

A negligently caused, foreseeable physical injury becomes unusually severe because the claimant has a pre-existing vulnerability. What does the thin-skull rule ordinarily require?

• ARejecting the claim because the claimant was unusually vulnerable
• BLimiting recovery to the injury an average healthy person would have suffered
• CTreating the claimant's vulnerability as automatic contributory negligence
• DTaking the claimant as found when assessing the injury caused by the wrong

An employee abandons a delivery job entirely to make a personal trip unrelated to the employer's business. During that trip the employee negligently injures someone. Under the traditional 'frolic of one's own' principle, what is the central obstacle to vicarious liability?

• AThe tort occurred outside the course of employment on the stated facts
• BThe employer had prohibited negligent driving
• CThe employee personally controlled the vehicle's steering
• DThe injured person had no contract with the employer

Under the standing rule in Hunter v Canary Wharf, who ordinarily has the necessary interest to sue in private nuisance affecting a house?

• AA visiting guest whose enjoyment of the house is disturbed
• BThe tenant entitled to exclusive possession of the affected house
• CA passer-by annoyed by the same noise
• DA family member who occupies the house without any proprietary or possessory interest

When studying the rule in Rylands v Fletcher as explained in Cambridge Water and Transco, which combination identifies important requirements for liability?

• AAn ordinary domestic accumulation, an escape, and foreseeable damage, without any special…
• BAn injury occurring wholly on the premises, without any escape from the land
• CAn extraordinary or non-natural accumulation creating exceptional danger if it escapes, a…
• DAn extraordinary accumulation and foreseeable damage, but only if negligence is also prov…

A former employer gives a confidential job reference to a prospective employer with a corresponding interest in receiving it. Which description best captures common law qualified privilege?

• AThe reference is protected against defamation liability even if published maliciously
• BEvery reference is protected because it is necessarily true
• CPrivilege arises only after the employee consents to every word
• DThe reciprocal duty or interest may protect the occasion, but malice can defeat that prot…

A defendant alleges contributory negligence in a personal injury claim. Which factual issue is central to that allegation?

• AWhether the claimant failed to take reasonable care for their own safety and thereby cont…
• BWhether the claimant knew an activity carried risk, even while taking reasonable care
• CWhether the claimant has any pre-existing medical condition, regardless of conduct
• DWhether the claimant agreed to bear the legal risk without recourse against the defendant

For an offence requiring fault, which pair ordinarily identifies the prohibited conduct or circumstances and the required mental element?

• AIndictment and conviction
• BActus reus and mens rea
• CArrest and sentence
• DMotive and a confession

In the ordinary common law definition of murder, which mental state can satisfy malice aforethought?

• AMere dislike of the victim without an intention to harm
• BAny carelessness causing death
• CAn intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm
• DA wish to frighten someone without intending serious injury

Which situation most clearly illustrates the taking and dishonest permanent-deprivation elements of larceny?

• AUsing an owner's bicycle with permission and returning it as agreed
• BFailing to pay a contractual debt when due, without taking another's goods
• CAccidentally picking up an identical bag and returning it on discovering the mistake
• DTaking and carrying away another's bicycle without consent, fraudulently and without a go…

Why is evidence that a defendant's bodily movement was wholly involuntary relevant when examining the actus reus of an ordinary common law offence?

• ACriminal liability ordinarily requires voluntary conduct, subject to the particular offen…
• BAny unwanted consequence proves that the defendant's movement was involuntary
• CAn involuntary movement always proves an intention to commit the offence
• DVoluntariness concerns only sentencing and can never affect liability

Under the subjective recklessness approach associated with R v Cunningham, which finding is essential?

• AOnly that a reasonable person would have noticed the risk
• BThat the defendant actually foresaw the relevant risk and nevertheless took it
• CThat the defendant had a generally bad character
• DThat harm occurred even though no risk was foreseen by anyone

A intentionally swings a belt to strike B but instead strikes C standing nearby. In applying transferred malice to the same type of offence against C, what is the effect of A's lack of hostility toward C?

• AIt necessarily prevents criminal liability for striking C
• BIt permits liability only if A also foresaw that C specifically would be struck
• CIt does not necessarily prevent liability because the relevant intent toward B can transf…
• DIt means that only B can be treated as a victim of the incident

In common law self-defence, how are the defendant's perception of danger and the degree of force ordinarily assessed?

• AAny honestly perceived danger permits unlimited force
• BForce is judged solely by how frightened the defendant says they felt
• CThe defendant must prove that every conceivable escape route was attempted
• DThe circumstances are assessed as honestly believed, while the force used must be reasona…

Which condition most directly satisfies the nature-and-quality limb of the M'Naghten formulation of insanity?

• AA defect of reason from disease of the mind preventing knowledge of the nature and qualit…
• BAnger alone, despite full understanding of the act and its wrongfulness
• CA strong impulse to offend despite knowing the nature and quality of the act
• DA deliberate decision to ignore a law the defendant understands

For unlawful-act manslaughter under the R v Church approach, how is the dangerousness of the underlying unlawful act assessed?

• AThe defendant must have intended death
• BSober and reasonable people must recognize a risk of at least some physical harm
• CThe victim must have suffered an injury that the defendant predicted in exact detail
• DThe unlawful act must necessarily be an attempted murder

A person takes responsibility for caring for a dependent adult, then deliberately fails to provide essential care. When considering criminal liability for an omission, which inquiry is crucial?

• AWhether the accused had a moral obligation, even if no legal duty existed
• BWhether a care contract was signed, since an assumed duty can arise only by contract
• CWhether the accused had a recognized legal duty to act and the other elements of the offe…
• DWhether the accused positively caused the adult's original dependency, since that is the…

A deceiver obtains a bicycle solely for a test ride, with the owner retaining ownership. Another deceiver obtains a bicycle through a false factual representation that induces its owner to transfer both possession and ownership. Assuming the other offence elements, which classification reflects the traditional distinction?

• ABoth are false pretences because both owners voluntarily handed over possession
• BBoth are larceny by trick because fraud prevents any intended transfer of ownership
• CThe first is false pretences and the second larceny by trick
• DThe first is larceny by trick and the second obtaining by false pretences

Under the ordinary common law conspiracy principle, when is a conspiracy to commit an offence complete?

• AWhen the required agreement between the conspirators is reached
• BOnly after the planned offence succeeds
• COnly after each conspirator personally performs part of the planned offence
• DOnly when the conspirators receive the expected profit

An ordinary statute conflicts with the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991. Under the constitutional supremacy rule, what is the effect of the conflict?

• AThe statute prevails because it was enacted more recently
• BThe statute is void to the extent of its inconsistency
• CThe entire statute must be void even if the conflicting provision is severable
• DThe statute prevails if it received presidential assent

A person alleges that a right protected by Sections 16 to 27 of Sierra Leone's Constitution has been contravened in relation to them. Which provision supplies a route to apply directly to the Supreme Court for redress?

• AThe Chapter II statement of non-justiciable state policy alone
• BThe provision governing the composition of Parliament
• CThe provision governing appointment of the Auditor-General
• DSection 28 on enforcement of the protective provisions

In which institution does Sierra Leone's Constitution vest the Republic's legislative power, subject to the Constitution?

• AParliament
• BCabinet acting without Parliament
• CThe Supreme Court when deciding an ordinary appeal
• DThe Judicial and Legal Service Commission

A minister directs a Sierra Leone judge to decide a pending case in the government's favour. Which statement best reflects Section 120(3) of the Constitution?

• AThe direction binds the judge because ministers exercise executive authority
• BThe direction binds if the government is a party to the litigation
• CThe Judiciary is subject to the Constitution and law, rather than the minister's directio…
• DJudicial independence permits the judge to disregard both the direction and all applicabl…

Subject to the constitutional qualifications, which court has original jurisdiction, to the exclusion of other courts, over constitutional interpretation and questions whether an enactment exceeds the lawmaker's constitutional powers?

• AThe High Court because it has general original civil jurisdiction
• BThe Court of Appeal because it reviews High Court judgments
• CA Magistrates' Court whenever the issue arises in a criminal trial
• DThe Supreme Court under Section 124

For compulsory acquisition within the general protection in Section 21(1) of Sierra Leone's Constitution, which safeguard must the applicable law provide, alongside the specified public-interest and justification conditions?

• APrompt adequate compensation and access to a court or other impartial independent authori…
• BCompensation only if the owner voluntarily consents to the acquisition
• CAn unrestricted power for the acquiring authority to set compensation without independent…
• DA replacement property in every case, with no possibility of monetary compensation

Which set identifies the three certainties required for an express private trust under the traditional equitable doctrine?

• AIntention, subject matter, and objects
• BIntention, registration, and consideration
• CSubject matter, profitability, and duration
• DObjects, trustee remuneration, and consideration

A court orders a defendant to remove a structure erected in breach of a protected right. How is an injunction requiring this positive action ordinarily classified?

• AA prohibitory injunction because every injunction merely forbids future conduct
• BAn award of damages because removal has a financial cost
• CA mandatory injunction
• DA declaration because the defendant remains free to leave the structure in place

A will gives property to a sister 'in full confidence' that she will help the testator's children. When deciding whether this creates an express trust, what should the court examine?

• AWhether words of confidence were used, since they invariably impose trust obligations
• BWhether the instrument as a whole shows a binding obligation rather than a mere moral wish
• CWhether the word 'trust' appears, since that word alone conclusively determines the outco…
• DWhether the word 'trust' is absent, since a trust can never arise without that express la…

A pays the full purchase price of an investment property, but title is put in an unrelated business acquaintance B's name. Applying the traditional purchase-money resulting-trust presumption, with no gift, loan or other contrary intention established, who is presumed beneficially entitled?

• AB, because legal title conclusively establishes beneficial ownership
• BA and B equally, merely because both participated in the transaction
• CB, because providing purchase money can never create an equitable interest
• DA, with B holding the legal title on resulting trust

A trustee uses a trust opportunity to make an unauthorised personal profit. The trustee acted honestly and the trust suffered no financial loss. Under the strict equitable no-profit rule, which response is strongest?

• AThe trustee may have to account for the profit despite honesty and absence of loss
• BThe trustee can retain the profit whenever the trust could not itself exploit the opportu…
• CThe trustee can retain the profit if the beneficiaries cannot prove fraud
• DThe trustee owes only compensation for proved loss, so no remedy can arise here

In an ordinary civil application governed by the American Cyanamid approach, the claimant shows a serious question to be tried. What does that finding establish?

• AA final determination that the claimant will win at trial
• BAn automatic entitlement to an interlocutory injunction
• CA threshold for considering interim relief, with adequacy of damages and the balance of c…
• DA requirement that the defendant disprove the whole claim immediately