A person who is in possession of land or premises owes responsibility towards other persons who are present on that premises. Such liability or responsibility varies according to the kind of persons who stepped into that premises.
Liability towards an invitee
The occupier of a land has a duty of ordinary care to warn or protect an invitee from any risk or danger, provided:
The risk is unreasonable
The occupier knows or in the exercise of ordinary care should know the condition, and should apprehend that it involves an unreasonable risk or danger to the invitee.
Liability towards a licensee
A licensee is a person who enters and/or remains in the premises of the occupier with the express or implied permission of him. In such cases, the occupier owes a duty to warn such licensee of any hidden danger in the premises, which the occupier knows or in the exercise of ordinary care should know. However, he will have no liability if he was not aware of the dangers, which resulted in the loss sustained by the licensee.
Liability towards trespassers
In cases where the premises owner is not aware of the presence of a trespasser, he has no duty to warn the trespasser of any threat or to make the premises safe for the benefit of such trespasser. If the premises owner is aware of the presence of the trespasser, he may exercise ordinary care for the safety of the trespasser. Thus, the occupier must not deliberately cause injury to the trespasser, but can apply reasonable force to expel him.
Liability towards children
It is needless to mention that children will be less careful and watchful than the adults. Children by their basic instincts are curious and thus can get attracted towards any dangerous object, which an adult person of normal prudence will have otherwise avoided. Thus the occupier must take adequate care to protect a child against such dangers even for which an adult need not be protected.
