civil law

• actus reus

  action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime, as opposed to the mental state of the accused.
• mens rea

  the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime, as opposed to the action or conduct of the accused.
• lump sum

  a single payment of an amount rather than several payments of smaller amounts, the money can be paid to the winner of a case in a lump sum or in yearly payments.
• courts of the first instance

  where initial trials are held depending on the severity of the offense, including the magistrates’ courts and the crown court for criminal trials, and the county Courts and high court for civil disputes.
• negligence

  the failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable individual would be able to foresee and exercise under the same circumstances. negligence claims must prove four things in court; a duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
• duty of care

  the moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others. a failure to take such care can result in the defendant being held liable to pay damages to a party who has suffered injuries or suffers loss as a result of the breach. proximity needs to be considered to determine whether a duty of care was owed. proximity is either space or time, or if the relationship between the claimant and the defendant has a sufficiently close relationship. a duty of care was owed as there was sufficient proximity between the claimant and defendant when the incident occurred.
• breach of duty

  refers to the violation of a legal or moral obligation. it is one of the elements of negligence, which is a type of civil wrong that causes harm to another individual. a person breaches their duty when they fail to act with reasonable care or fulfil their responsibilities in a proper manner.
• causation 


  if an individual is unable to demonstrate the defendant 'directly and proximately' caused the injuries, negligence cannot be claimed. there are two parts of causation; factual and legal. factual causation requires proof that the defendants conduct was a necessary condition of the consequence, established by proving that the consequence would not occured but for the defendants conduct.