Lecture Notes: Duty of Care in Negligence

Overview of Negligence

• To prove negligence, three elements must be established:
  1. Duty of Care
  2. Breach of Duty
  3. Resulting Damage

Focus on Duty of Care

• Donoghue v. Stevenson
  • Established modern law of negligence.
  • Introduced the "neighbor principle."
  • Lord Atkin: "You must not injure your neighbor."
  • Neighbor is anyone closely and directly affected by one's actions.

Evolution to Caparo Test

• Caparo v. Dickman
  • Replaced the neighbor principle with a three-part test:
    1. Was the damage reasonably foreseeable?
    2. Was there a sufficient proximity between claimant and defendant?
    3. Is it fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty?

Case Studies: Reasonable Foreseeability

• Kent v. Griffiths
  • Ambulance delay in an asthma attack, harm was reasonably foreseeable.
• Jolley v. Sutton
  • Injury from an abandoned boat, foreseeable that some injury would occur.
• Bourhill v. Young
  • Not foreseeable: Mrs. Borehill's claim after witnessing aftermath of an accident. She was not directly involved.

Case Studies: Proximity

• Home Office v. Dorset Yacht
  • Sufficient physical proximity to impose duty of care.
• Hill v. Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
  • No proximity: police couldn’t foresee next victim.
• Osman v. Ferguson
  • Proximity was present: police aware of risks from a school teacher.

Fair, Just, and Reasonable

• Courts are reluctant to impose duty on public authorities, like police.
• Hill and Osman
  • Not fair, just, and reasonable to impose duty on police.
• Robinson v. Chief Constable of West Yorkshire
  • Demonstrated potential liability of police for personal injury.
  • Supreme Court: Hill doesn't grant police general immunity.

Key Takeaway

• Proving duty of care requires meeting all three parts of the Caparo test:
  • Reasonable foreseeability
  • Proximity (physical or legal)
  • Fair, just, and reasonable
• Police cases are complex; the outcome can vary based on case law (Hill/Osman vs. Robinson).

Conclusion

• Duty of Care can now be assessed using the Caparo test, which offers a structured approach to analyzing legal responsibility in negligence cases.
• Review cases and principles for exam scenarios involving public authorities.

The next topic will cover the Breach of Duty in negligence cases.