Negligence (Paper 2) Flashcards
What are the three elements of negligence
Duty of Care, Breach of Duty, Breach must Cause the Damage
What is stage 1 of negligence
Defendant must owe the claimant a duty of care
This principle was established by this judge in Donoghue v Stevenson
Lord Atkin established the neighbour principle
What is meant by the Neighbour Principle
D must take care not to injure their neighbour, and neighbour is anyone ‘closely and directly affected by your actions’
What was the decision in Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
If there is an obvious duty of care, no need for the three stage test in Caparo
Situation in which the Caparo test will be used
When the duty of care isn’t obvious, a novel situation
3 stage test from Caparo v Dickman
Foreseeability, Proximity, and Reasonableness
Osman v UK
Emergency services will owe a duty of care if they make the risk substantially higher
Insurance
If D has insurance, such as car insurance, then it is usually fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty
Stage 2 of Negligence
D must have breached their duty of care to C
Definition of breach from Alderson B in Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks
Doing something a reasonable man wouldn’t do, or not doing something a reasonable man would do (objective test)
D will fall into one of three categories to determine the standard they should have met
Expert/experienced person
Learner/inexperienced person
Child/young person
Standard of an expert or someone who possesses a particular skill
The standard of other reasonably competent professionals (Bolam / Bolitho)
Standard of someone inexperienced or a learner
Someone experienced and competent (Nettleship v Weston)
Standard of children
A reasonable child of a similar age (Mullins v Richards)