Defences to Negligence Flashcards
What is the Volenti Defence?
- ‘One who has invited or assented to an act being done towards him cannot, when he suffers from it, complain of it as a wrong’: Smith v Baker [1891] AC 325, at 360.
‘the defence amounts to a claim by the defendant that, both on the facts and on the law, the whole blame for the claimant’s death must rest on the claimant’s shoulders’: Reeves v Commissioner of Police for Metropolis [1997] EWCA Civ 2868.
What are the three requirements of the Volenti Defence?
THE CLAIMANT WAS IN A POSITION TO KNOW OF, & TO APPRECIATE THE RISK OF INJURY POSED BY THE DEFENDANT’S ACTIVITIES.
THE CLAIMANT VOLUNTARILY CONSENTED TO THE SPECIFIC RISK OF THE INJURY THAT OCCURRED, EXPRESSLY OR IMPLIEDLY
THE DEFENCE CANNOT HAVE THE EFFECT OF DESTROYING THE CONTENT OF THE DUTY WHICH THE DEFENDANT OWED TO THE CLAIMANT
What did the case of Reeves v Commissioner Police?
- Duty on police to keep prisoner under suicide watch
- Prisoner committed suicide
Volenti not successful (the very duty upon the police was to prevent this)
What is teh fourth requirement of Volenti?
- THE DEFENCE MUST NOT BE BARRED BY LAW
s. 149 Road Traffic Act 1988
What does S.1(1) Law Reform Act 1945 (Contributory Negligence) show?
Where any person suffers damage as a result partly of his own fault and partly of the fault of any other person or persons… the damages recoverable.. Shall be reduced to such extent as the court thinks just and equitable, having regard to the claimant’s share in the responsibility for the damage.
