LECTURE 2 - Negligence (Part One)

• Negligence


  A tort law concept that deals with situations where someone fails to exercise a reasonable standard of care, resulting in harm to another person
• Law must find a balance between compensating for carelessness and ensuring that defendants are not exposed to "a liability in an indeterminate amount for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate class"
• Donoghue v Stevenson


  Established the "duty to not injure neighbour" - manufacturers had a duty of care to the ultimate consumers of their products
• Donoghue v Stevenson: '"You must take reasonable care to avoids acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injury your neighbour"'
• The test for whether there is liability for negligence has evolved since Donoghue v Stevenson
• Elements of Negligence (the law today)

  • A duty of care
  • Breach of the duty of care
  • Harm
  • Remoteness
• Duty of care


  • Factors relevant: 1) Relationship/proximity between parties, 2) Presence/absence of policy factors
• Possible Policy Factors


  • Fairness and reasonableness
  • Societal impact
  • Economic impact
  • Encouragement of socially desirable activities
  • Avoiding opening "floodgates" of litigation
  • Consistency/overlap with other laws
• Breach of duty of care

  Defendant has failed to exercise the standard of care appropriate in the circumstances
• Factors relevant to standard of care

  • Ordinary reasonable person in that position
  • Higher standard if person holds themselves out as having expertise
  • Degree of risk or harm
  • Cost of neutralizing the risk
  • Common practice of the trade or profession
• Harm


  • Plaintiff must show: 1) Actual loss or harm, 2) Caused by defendant's breach of duty
• Remoteness of Harm


  A person will not be liable for losses that are "too remote"/removed from the defendant. Liability only extends to type of damage which a reasonable person would have foreseen.