Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Tort law case studies on negligence
+negligence tort, cases samples
Tort law case studies on negligence
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Tort law case studies on negligence
Duty of Care is the first essential element that has to be established in order to prove negligence in a civil case. The Claimant should be able to prove that the duty of care was owed to him, that the duty of care was breached because it failed to meet the standards required by a ‘reasonable man’ and lastly that the claimant suffered loss and injury due to his actions which were not too remote. This paper will discuss how the courts use the concept of duty of care in the English legal system to limit liability and how through case law they have created specific principles and standard tests which have placed limits on dealing with negligence. The Neighbour Principle is a proximity test used to determine whether the defendant had foreseen the likelihood of injury to the claimant and whether a duty of care is owed. In Donoghue v Stevenson (1932), Donoghue fell ill after drinking Ginger beer her friend had bough for her in a café. She realized there was a decomposed snail after drinking a little which gave her an upset stomach. She was unable to sue the shopkeeper, as she was a third party. Therefore she sued the manufacturer and the court ruled in her favor, as the manufacturer owes a duty of care to its customers. Lord Atkins held: “The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer’s question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions, which you can reasonably foresee, would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be: persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected w... ... middle of paper ... ...by trainees who escaped. In Smith v Littlewoods (1987) it was held that the Littlewoods were not liable, as they did owe a care of duty they did not breach their duty, as they were unaware of the previous incidents. property in front of the cinema , to begin with there was no relationship between the vandals and the defendants.And they did not have a duty to prevent a fire started by vandals. The duty on the occupier would be too wide if they were responsible for the damage caused to the Haynes v Harwood(1935) The Defendant left a horse in a van in a crowded street , a boy on the street threw a rock at the horse which led him to bolt out of the van. The police officer tried saving a woman and a kid and was injured in the process. The defendant owed a duty of care and he had created a source of danger for the public by leaving an unattended horse in a busy street.
The appeal was heard in The NSW Supreme Court, Court of Appeal. The appellant appealed the issue of “blameless accidents” therefore providing new evidence, with the view that the preceding judge made an error recognising the content and scope of duty of care. He also noted the breach of duty of care and causation .
The first component of the four D’s of negligence is duty. The dentist owed a duty of care to every one of his patients. Duty of care is a legal obligation a health care worker, in this case, the dentist, owes to their patient and, at times,...
To succeed in a negligence action, you must prove each of the following. The first element, did George owe the plaintiff a legal duty of care? Legal duty of care paradigm includes that a person acts towards others with attention, prudence, and caution. George owed a duty of care to people by leaving his car in park.
The refinement of this definition has significant legal implications, as it broadens the scope of those who can sue within blameless accidents. Prior to this, such victims would also face being labelled with “fault”. Supporting the findings of Axiak, by establishing non-tortious conduct as separate from “fault”, similar, future cases are more likely to proceed despite the plaintiff’s contributory
A police officer, Colin Allcars (Allcars), is suing Harry’s Ammo World (HAW) for his medical expenses, personal injuries, pain and suffering. HAW sold a rifle to Dakota D. West without checking West’s background for felonies or drug use. Federal law prevents the sale of firearms to anyone with a felony or to anyone that uses illegal drugs. Dakota had been convicted of a felony and was also a user of marijuana. Two months after the sale Dakota’s brother took the rifle and took hostages. When the police were trying to subdue and arrest Dakota’s brother he shot and wounded Colin AllCars. Allcars is suing HAW on the grounds of negligence.
The tort of negligence is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in a similar circumstance. Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. Four elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence. The existence of a legal duty to exercise reasonable care, a failure to exercise reasonable care. Cause in fact of physical harm by the negligent conduct; physical harm in the form of actual damages and proximate cause. Which is showing that the harm is within the scope of liability.
The first element to examine is that of possible benefit to society. In Swinney v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police Force , the claimant found information relating to a murder of a police officer. They reported it, but the file of the report given was stolen. The couple received violent threats after this occurred. In this case, a duty was established, it was done so in order to protect future informers, to ensure people will come forward. If no liability had been placed it would be detrimental, as informers would be less likely to come forward. This case is then distinguished into a type of negligence referred to as ‘direct action’ cases . It relates to deterrence, as well since it places this liability in order to protect informers and thereby to make sure this kind of negligence does not occur again from the police. It is a somewhat rare example where a duty of care is established. Another element of practical consideration is that of resources. The other main case for police negligence is Osman v Ferguson . In this case, a 14-year-old boy was being stalked by his schoolteacher. It came so to the point where the schoolteacher came to the claimant’s house and killed his father and injured the boy. The police had been called on several occasions, but failed to act before it went out of control. It had proximity and reasonable foreseeability however; it was
This assignment will evaluate murder, Homicide and will focus specifically on gross negligence manslaughter and diminished responsibility. It will explain the key rules and cases that are relevant to this aspect of criminal law. It will explain some of the rules using relevant statutes and/or case law and will show how the courts apply the rules of an area of criminal law in order to find a defendant guilty of an offence. This will be followed by an analysis of a relevant case and the law and statutes that are applicable. This leads the assignment towards a description of defences a defendant could use when accused of a gross negligence manslaughter. The final part of the assignment will be orientated towards changes made in the law over
Back to the 19th century, legal liability was restricted to actions, or actus reus, causing “direct and immediate injury to the person or damage to property as in a case of trespass”. (2) Beyond such liable action, most of damage raised u...
To conclude, I would advise Brad and Chardonnay to exercise their right to claim damages from the surveyor as they have a strong case, based upon the relevant cases, evidence and legislation explained within this essay.
The Courts' Approach to the Idea of the Duty of Care From Early Case to Caparo
“The care which an occupier of premises is required by reason of the occupation or control of the premises to show towards a person entering on the premises in respect of dangers which are due to the state of the premises or to anything done or omitted to be done on the premises and for which the occupier is by law responsible.” (s5(1) of the Occupier’s Liability Act 1985 (WA))
The underlying principle of the concept of duty is the neighbour principle which is a regulation to love our neighbours and must not injure them. Thus, one has to take reasonable care of their own actions to avoid carelessness that could foreseeably harm others. Duty of care also can only be established when both parties are proximate to each another and the circumstances of the case is justifiable to impose liability.
...s been established, it has to be proved if the defendant (professional) has breached the duty of care and as a result, the claimant suffered harm (financial loss). In order to establish the breach of duty, the reasonable standard of a professional needs to be applied. In the case Lloyd Cheyham & Co v Littlejohn & Co Ltd (1987) the judgement was based on the standard of care of an accountant established by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Standards (Boyt, 2013).
By analogy with the facts in the case given, the elements of negligence action by Ben and David against Alfred have arguably been established thus, they are both likely to succeed in their action against Alfred. Ben and David are also most likely to succeed in the action under vicarious liability but not in action against Big Builders under employer’s liability since it was not aware of Alfred’s incompetence.