Negligence: Tort and Reasonable Person
LAW
Torts 1 – Negligence: elements of liability
Objectives
The law of tort has already been mentioned in other topics in a comparative sense. After studying this topic you should be able to:
• discuss the nature of tort law;
• explain the various interests protected by tort law;
• describe the three essentials of the tort of negligence;
• apply the test of reasonable foreseeability in relation to the duty of care;
• explain the circumstances in which a duty of care arises when giving advice;
• explain the factors used to determine the breach of the standard of care;
• describe the ‘but for’ test of causation; and
• apply these principles of liability to factual situations.
A. Law of Torts
A ‘tort’ is a civil wrong which the law redresses by an award of damages. A ‘wrong’ is an infringement or violation of a person’s legal right by another. There are many torts, each relating to a different type of harm:
|Negligence: |careless causation of injury to person, damage to property or economic loss |
|Defamation: |damage to reputation |
|Nuisance: |conduct that interferes with a neighbour’s enjoyment of their property |
|Trespass: |to person (physical assault), to goods (unlawful entry onto property) to goods |
| |(interference in a person’s use of their goods) |
In this Topic we will focus on the tort of negligence, which is a failure to take reasonable care towards another person which results in that person suffering harm. There is no need for the plaintiff to prove that harm was intended by the defendant – the essence of the action is that insufficient care was taken, and that that resulted in harm. Negligence can also be defined as the doing
Torts 1 – Negligence: elements of liability
Objectives
The law of tort has already been mentioned in other topics in a comparative sense. After studying this topic you should be able to:
• discuss the nature of tort law;
• explain the various interests protected by tort law;
• describe the three essentials of the tort of negligence;
• apply the test of reasonable foreseeability in relation to the duty of care;
• explain the circumstances in which a duty of care arises when giving advice;
• explain the factors used to determine the breach of the standard of care;
• describe the ‘but for’ test of causation; and
• apply these principles of liability to factual situations.
A. Law of Torts
A ‘tort’ is a civil wrong which the law redresses by an award of damages. A ‘wrong’ is an infringement or violation of a person’s legal right by another. There are many torts, each relating to a different type of harm:
|Negligence: |careless causation of injury to person, damage to property or economic loss |
|Defamation: |damage to reputation |
|Nuisance: |conduct that interferes with a neighbour’s enjoyment of their property |
|Trespass: |to person (physical assault), to goods (unlawful entry onto property) to goods |
| |(interference in a person’s use of their goods) |
In this Topic we will focus on the tort of negligence, which is a failure to take reasonable care towards another person which results in that person suffering harm. There is no need for the plaintiff to prove that harm was intended by the defendant – the essence of the action is that insufficient care was taken, and that that resulted in harm. Negligence can also be defined as the doing