Exploring Obligations in a Legal Sense

Exploring Obligations in a Legal Sense

Negligence in tort has various meanings. It may refer to the tort of

negligence or it may refer to careless behaviour. A person who totally

disregards the safety of others but does not injure them is not guilty

of negligence, although they may be morally reprehensible. On the

other hand, the person who tries their best but fall below the

standard set by the court and causes any damage will be liable.[1]

Negligence is judged by an objective standard set, where the court

will look at what a ‘responsible man or woman’ would have done in the

defendant’s position. An example of this is in the case of Nettleship

v Weston (1971)[2] , the defendant was a learner driver who was given

lessons by the plaintiff. The plaintiff was injured as a result of the

defendant’s negligent driving. It was held that all drivers, including

learning drivers, would be judged by the standards of the average

competent driver.

Duty, breach, causation and damage are the elements that together make

up any successful negligence claim. If the claimant wants to win in a

negligence action, some certain points must be proven such as that the

defendant owed them a duty of care; that the defendant was in breach

of that duty; and that the claimant suffered damage caused by the

breach of duty, which was not too remote. In negligence, it has to be

proven by the claimant that there has been some kind of loss or injury

as a result of the defendant’s negligence.

The elements of liability in the tort of negligence are the defendant

must owe the plaintiff a duty of care. A duty of care is a legal

obligation to take care to avoid causin...

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...lness and fails to seek medical advice,

then they will have constructive knowledge. However, if they have

sought medical advice but the doctor has failed to ascertain the

appropriate facts and diagnose the condition, and then time will not

run out against them.

The court is given a power to disapply the provisions relating to

personal injuries or death (s 33).

Bibliography

B.S. Markesinis and S.F.Deakin, Tort Law, 3rd Ed, Clarendon Press

Ltd, 1994

John Cooke, Law of Tort, 5th Ed, Longman Press, 2001

Richard Kidner, Casebook on Torts, 6th Ed, Blackstone Press Ltd, 2000

Oxford Dictionary of Law, 5th Ed, 2002

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[1] John Cooke, 2001: pg 10

[2] 2 QB 691

[3] AC 85

[4] [1957] 1 WLR 582

[5] [1997] 2 All ER 865