1. Duty of Care Flashcards
What is Duty of Care?
Legal obligation to act with reasonable care towards others.
What is the Test for Novel Cases?
Reasonably foreseeable harm + sufficient proximity + fair and just to impose liability.
What are the Limits of Duty of Care?
Floodgates, insurance, proportionality, and standards.
When can Established Duty Situations be relied on?
When claimant suffers physical damage (includes personal injury or damage to property), not pure economic loss or psychiatric harm.
Established Duty relationships:
one road user to another: this would include driver to other drivers; driver to passenger;
driver to pedestrian; cyclist to driver; cyclist to pedestrian
* doctor to patient
* employer to employee
* manufacturer to consumer
* tutor to tutee, teacher to pupil
Rescuer
Where a defendant’s
actions have created a dangerous situation so that it is reasonably foreseeable that
someone may attempt a rescue, the defendant owes a duty of care to the rescuer
What are Novel Duty Situations?
Cases where the courts decide if a duty of care exists for a particular relationship/facts.
def can only sue if they suffer either personal injury or damage to property. / not PCH OR PEH
What is the Caparo Test?
Reasonably foreseeable harm (is it
reasonably foreseeable that the defendant’s actions will affect this particular claimant?)+
sufficient proximity of relationship between the claimant and defendant; (mot necessarily proximity in distance)+
fair and just to impose liability.
What are the limitations of the Caparo Test?
Omissions, pure economic loss, pure psychiatric harm, and public policy.
What factors are considered in the Caparo Test specifically the just and fair to impose?
Floodgates, deterrence, lack of insurance, public benefit, and upholding the law.
What is the General Rule for Liability for Omissions?
No duty of care for failing to act, unless exceptions apply.
However, if someone
decides to act, they have a duty not to make the situation worse
When can D be liable for Omissions?
If they voluntarily assume responsibility and fail to mitigate danger.
What are the Exceptions for Liability for Omissions?
Duty not to make the situation worse + duty to act if D has power/control.
Occasions when there is a duty to act positively
There is a duty to act positively in tort if a person has some sort of power or control over the
other person or object. This special relationship of control could arise in several different
ways, eg:
* employer and employee;
* schools and children;
* parents and children;
* instructors and pupils
THOSE PPL CANNOT JUST NOT TO DO ANYTHING
What duty does an Ambulance owe?
Duty of care to respond timely to emergency calls.
generally no DOC when harm is caused by a public body, such as a local authority or the police
POLICE DONT OWE DOC To individual members of the public such as the shop owner.
What is the General Rule for Liability for Third Parties?
No duty of care for actions of third parties.
