Torts and Damages- DEFENSE Flashcards
What is a proximate cause?
The proximate cause of an injury is that cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have occurred.
What does doctrine of last clear chance mean?
It states that where both parties are negligent but the negligent act of one is appreciably later than that of the other, or where it is impossible to determine whose fault or negligence caused the lose, the one who had the last clear opportunity to avoid the loss but failed to do so is chargeable with the loss.
The antecedent negligence of plaintiff does not preclude him from recovering damages caused by the supervening negligence of defendant, who had the last fair chance to prevent the impending harm by the exercise of due diligence.
What defense may be used to mitigate the liability arising from quasi-delict?
Contributory negligence.
The defendant may assert that the plaintiff was also negligent. However, when the latter’s negligence is merely contributory, the immediate and proximate cause of the injury being the defendant’s lack of due care, the plaintiff may recover damages, but the courts shall mitigate the damages to be awarded.
The underlying precept on contributory negligence is that a plaintiff who is partly responsible for his injury should not be entitled to recover damages in full but must bear the consequences of his own negligence.
How does prescription becomes a defense in negligence case?
Under this defense, the plaintiff asserts that the action for damages has already been prescribed and can no longer be brought by the plaintiff. An action upon a quasi-delict must be brought within four years when the cause of action accrued.
How to interpose Fortuitous event as defense in negligence case?
Under the doctrine of fortuitous event, no person shall be responsible for those events which could not be foreseen, or which, though foreseen, were inevitable.
The burden of proving that the loss was due to fortuitous event rests on him who invokes it. Further, in order for a fortuitous event to exempt one from liability, it is necessary that one has committed no negligence or misconduct that may have occasioned the loss.
What is the emergency rule?
Under the emergency rule, one who suddenly finds himself in a place of danger, and is required to act without time to consider the best means that may be adopted to avoid the impending danger, is not guilty of negligence, if he fails to adopt what subsequently and upon reflection may appear to have been a better method, unless the emergency in which he finds himself is brought about by his own negligence.
The danger confronting the actor must be real and imminent, threatening his/her very existence. As such, the actor had no opportunity for rational thinking but only enough time to heed the very powerful instinct of self-preservation.
What is the doctrine of Assumption of Risk? (Volenti non fit injuria)
It states that when a person voluntarily assents to a known danger, he or she must abide by the consequences.
It means that one who voluntarily exposes himself or herself to an obvious, known and appreciated danger assumes the risk of injury that may result therefrom.
Elements:
1. The plaintiff must know that the risk is present
2. He or she must further understand its nature
3. His or her choice to incur it must be free and voluntary.
Explain involuntariness as defense in negligence case
It is believed that involuntariness is a complete defense in quasi delict cases and the defendant is therefore not liable if force was exerted on him. This may happen, for instance, when the defendant was forced to drive his vehicle by armed men. He was, at pain of death, forced to drive at a very fast clip because the armed men were
escaping from policemen. It is believed that the defendant cannot be held liable, if a bystander is hit as a consequence.
What are the elements constituting fortuitous event?
- The cause of the unforeseen or the unexpected occurrence must have been independent of human will
- The event must have been impossible to foresee or, if foreseeable, impossible to avoid
- The occurrence must have been such as to render it impossible for the debtors to fulfill the obligation in a normal manner
- The obligor must have been free from any participation in the aggravation of the resulting injury
What is contributory negligence?
It is the conduct on the part of the injured party, contributing as a legal cause to the harm that he or she has suffered, which falls below the standard to which he or she is required to conform for his or her own protection.
Negligence is contributory only when it contributes proximately to the injury, and not simply a condition for its occurrence.
