Tort 2: Negligence Flashcards

1
Q

What is the general outline for negligence?

A

Did D owe C a duty of care

Establish Standard of Care

Did D breach the duty owned

Did breach cause damage to C

Is there a defence for D

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2
Q

When is the there a duty of care?

A

Established duties of care
- case law has established situations where duty is owed

Novel Duty Situations
- if not established
- but foreseeable, proximate and fair, just & reasonable

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3
Q

What are some established duties of care?

A
  • drivers to others on road
  • doctor / patient
  • teacher / pupil
  • parent / children
  • solicitor / client
  • Employers / employees
  • manufacturers of products / consumers
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4
Q

How is a novel duty of care established (elements)?

A

Foreseeability
- C must be a foresee victim
- D’s negligence must have created a foreseeable risk of harm to C

Proximity
- must be a relationship of sufficient proximity between C and D

Just Fair and Reasonable
- court will consider if it just fair and reasonable in all circumstances to impose a duty of care
- includes policy factors

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5
Q

Can you breach duty of care through omission

A

No unless:

Special relationship between parties
- parent/child
- assumed responsibility towards claimant

Control
- if D exercises control over C

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6
Q

Can someone ever be liable for actions of third party under their control of responsibility

A

Only in very limited circumstances
- parent and young child
- is likely to owe duty that to take reasonable care to prevent the child from causing harm to others

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7
Q

What duty of care does a rescuer owe?

A

Limited duty not to make the situation worse.

Includes situations where someone starts to rescue but then unreasonably abandons it.
- would have prevented others from rescuing

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8
Q

What is the standard of care once established that a duty existed?

A

General
- Standard of a reasonable person undertaking that activity

Objective Standard
- D’s own personal characteristics are not taken into account

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9
Q

What will the court take into account in assessing if D’s conduct fell below the reasonable standard of care?

A

Magnitude of risk involved in the activity undertaken by the defendant
- likelihood of harm
- seriousness of potential harm

The practicality of taking precautions to avoid the risk
- court will balance the practicability of taking precautions against risk in question
- will also consider social utility

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10
Q

What is the standard of care of professionals? How is breach assessed?

A

Standard of a reasonably competent member of that profession.

Assessed
- did they act in accordance with a responsible body of professional opinion

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11
Q

What is a doctors duty to warn of risk of treatment?

A

Must always warn patient of material risks in treatment so patient can make up own mind.

What is material depends on what the patient would consider important not professional opinion.

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12
Q

What is the standard of care for children?

A

Standard of a reasonable child of the same age and defendant.

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13
Q

Who has the burden of proof that duty was breached?

A

Claimant

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14
Q

What is Res Ipsa Loquitur and when can it apply?

A

When no evidence to explain how duty was breached court can infer breach from the circumstances. But can be rebutted by D.

Requirements:
- there must be an absence of any explanation for how the incident occurred;
- the thing which caused the accident must have been under the control of the defendant; and
- the accident must be such as would not normally happen if proper care had been taken.

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15
Q

Can a criminal conviction be used as evidence of breach of duty?

A

Yes if they are related to same incident

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16
Q

Who has burden of proof of causation of damage?

A

claimant

17
Q

What are the stages in establishing causation of damages?

A

Factual Causation
- but for test

Legal Causation
- intervening acts
- remotness of damage :must be reasonably foreseeable consequence of D’s breach of duty

18
Q

What is the test for causation in fact?

A

But for test

If multiple possible causes:
- still but for test
- on balance of probabilities

If multiple causes working together
- material contribution test

19
Q

If multiple defendants contribute to the same damage of the claimant how is this dealt with?(diviable or not, successive)

A

Divisable
- some injuries (deafness) are divisible so C can only recover proportionate damages from each defendant

Not Divisible
- can recover from either defendant
- that defendant can recover contribution from the other(s) in amount court considers just and equitable

Successive Injuries
- second defendant only liable to extent that their negligence made Cs damage worse than it already was
- so nothing recoverable if they did not make it worse

20
Q

When will an intervening act breach the chain of causation? What types of intervening acts are there?

A

By third party
- only if it was not reasonably foreseeable

Act by Claimant
- only if claimants acted in entirely unreasonably

Natural Events

21
Q

What is the test for remoteness of damages?

A

Generally if it was reasonably foreseeable result of defendants negligence

Exceptions:

Think Skull Rule
- defendant to take victim as they find them
- being especially sensitive does not make it too remote

Similar in Type Rule
- if C suffered the type of harm that is reasonably foreseeable but in way that is unforeseeable

22
Q

What are the defences to negligence (general)?

A

Contributory negligence (partial defence)

Voluntary Assumption of risk (complete defence)

Exclusion of Liability

Illegality

23
Q

When can contributory negligence be argued?

A

If there is:
- a failure by C to take reasonable care of their own safety
- which contributes to the harm suffered by the C

Need not cause the accident, need only contribute to the damage suffered

24
Q

What effect does contributory negligence have?

A

Damages are reduced to such an extent that the court considers just and equitable.

25
Q

When can voluntary assumption of risk be argued? What effect does it have?

A

To apply:
- C must have had full knowledge of the risk;
- C must have freely and voluntarily assumed the risk.

Will not be used for passengers in road traffic accident.

Full defence

26
Q

When can define of illegality be used for negligence?

A

Complete Defence

Claimant cannot recover damages for harm suffered which taking part in criminal activity.

Limit
- does not apply when criminal activity is only the background of the claim rather than the basis