Lecture Notes: Negligence

Introduction

• Focus on the topic of negligence.
• Emphasized the importance of revision and self-assessment.
• Discussed strategy: diagnose deficiencies in subjects and topics.

Revising the Tort of Negligence

• Key Question: Scope of duty of care in negligence.
• When will the law recognize a duty of care, especially in novel situations?

Definition and Components of Negligence

• Plaintiff must prove:
  1. Duty of care owed by the defendant.
  2. Breach of that duty by the defendant.
  3. Damages suffered by the plaintiff due to the breach.
  4. Damages are not too remote.

Duty of Care

• Established in two ways:
  1. Within established duty situations (special relationships).
  2. Determined on a case-by-case basis using the neighbor principle.

Established Duty Situations

• Examples: Road users, employers to employees, manufacturers to consumers, doctors to patients, lawyers to clients.

Neighbor Principle

• Established in Donoghue v. Stevenson by Lord Atkin.
• Key point: "You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbor."
• Neighbor: Anyone closely affected by your act.

Caparo Industries v. Dickman (1990)

• Refinement of the neighbor principle.
• Three Points to Establish Duty of Care:
  1. Reasonable foresight of harm.
  2. Sufficient proximity of relationship.
  3. Fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty.

Limitations and Restrictions on Caparo Test

• Omissions (Failing to Act):

  • No general duty of care for omissions unless special relationship exists.
  • Exceptions include special relationships like parent-child, employer-employee, etc.

• Acts of Third Parties:

  • General duty of care does not extend to acts of third parties unless special circumstances exist.

• Negligent Misstatements:

  • Recognized since Hedley Byrne v. Heller (1964).
  • Three Conditions for Liability:
    1. Special relationship between parties.
    2. Defendant possesses skill and expects reliance on statement.
    3. Plaintiff relied on statement reasonably.

Misstatements and Financial Loss

• Case: Caparo v. Dickman clarified criteria for negligent misstatement.
• Conditions:
  1. Statement communicated to plaintiff.
  2. Made for a specific transaction.
  3. Plaintiff relied on it.

Conclusion

• Questions and further discussion postponed to the next session.
• Plan to cover more on negligence and related topics like defamation in future lectures.