Negligence Flashcards
How do you win a claim for negligence?
The claimant must show that:
The defendant owed a duty of care to the claimant
The defendant breached that duty of care
Damage was caused to the claimant as a result
Of this breach
Define duty or care
Legal phrase which means that one person has a responsibility to take proper care not to injure or cause loss to another it is known as the neighbour principle
In what case was the neighbour principle established?
Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)
What was held in the donoghue v Stevenson case?
The claimant can sue the manufacturers of the ginger beer as the manufacturer owed a duty of care to ensure that its products were safe to drink
How did lord atkin define the neighbour principle in donoghue v Stevenson?
You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour
What are the three stages of the three part test established in donoghue?
Foreseeability
Proximity
Fair just and reasonable
What is the foreseeable part of the three stage test?
Must be reasonable foresight of harm to the claimant, refers to foreseeability of c as a victim not precise nature or extent of harm
What case supports foreseeability in the three stage test?
Bourhill v young
- no duty of care as the plaintiff was not a reasonably foreseeable victim of the negligence
What is the proximity stage of the three part test?
Must be sufficient proximity in relationship between claimant and defendant
Usually proximity is satisfied if harm to the claimant is reasonably foreseeable
What is the fair just and reasonable stage of the three part test?
Whether it is fair just and reasonable to impose a duty of care
What case supports the fair just and reasonable stage of the three part test?
Marc Rich & Co AG v Bishop Rock Marine (1996)
Defendants did not owe duty of care as they were non profit making organisation carrying out classification as public good, would not be fair, just and reasonable to impose duty (it may endanger the existence of such organisations)
How do you know if the defendant is negligent?
If the defendants conduct meets the minimum acceptable standard of care then the defendant is not negligent; if the defendants conduct exceeds the minimum acceptable standard of care then the defendant is not negligent; but if the defendants conduct does not reach the minimum standard of care then the defendant has breached their duty of care and is negligent
What is the two stages approach?
Stage 1 - what standard of care was the defendant expected to reach
Stage 2 - did the defendant reach that standard of care
Define the reasonable man test
Negligence is doing something which a reasonable person, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate conduct or human affairs, would not do or, the omission to do something which a prudent and reasonable person would have done
