3)Causation Flashcards
(53 cards)
What are the key elements of negligence?
Duty, breach, causation, remoteness
These elements must be established for a claim in negligence.
What two points must be considered to establish a link in causation?
Factual causation and legal causation
Factual causation establishes the link between breach and damage, while legal causation considers if the link should be regarded as broken.
What is the ‘but for’ test?
On the balance of probabilities, but for the defendant’s breach, would the claimant have suffered their loss?
This test determines if the defendant’s actions were the factual cause of the claimant’s loss.
What does it mean if factual causation is satisfied?
The claimant would not have suffered their loss were it not for the defendant’s breach.
If the answer to the ‘but for’ test is no, causation is established.
What is the significance of Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital?
The case illustrates the failure of causation when the claimant would have suffered loss regardless of the breach.
The claimant died from arsenic poisoning irrespective of the doctor’s failure to examine him.
In the case of Wilsher v Essex AHA, why did the claimant fail to prove causation?
The claimant could only prove a 20% chance that the breach caused his blindness among five equally probable causes.
The burden of proof in civil actions is on the balance of probabilities.
What is the material contribution test?
A test applied when multiple causes contribute cumulatively to a claimant’s loss, allowing liability if the breach materially contributed.
Established in Bonnington Castings v Wardlaw.
How was the material contribution test applied in Bailey v Ministry of Defence?
The court found that the negligent care materially contributed to the claimant’s brain damage.
Both the negligence and the natural progression of illness contributed to the claimant’s condition.
What is the material increase in risk test?
A test where the defendant’s breach must materially increase the risk of injury to the claimant.
Established in McGhee v National Coal Board.
What was the outcome of McGhee v National Coal Board?
The claimant established causation based on the breach materially increasing the risk of dermatitis.
The claimant could not prove that the tortious dust caused the dermatitis directly.
Fill in the blank: The _______ test is used to establish factual causation.
‘but for’
This test is the fundamental starting point for proving causation.
True or False: The claimant always has to prove that the breach was the sole cause of their loss.
False
In cases with multiple causes, other tests like the material contribution test can apply.
What is required for the ‘but for’ test to be satisfied?
There must be a greater than 50% chance that the breach caused the damage.
A small chance that the loss might have occurred anyway does not negate the claim.
What is meant by legal causation?
It involves determining whether there are grounds to regard the link between breach and damage as broken.
This can involve policy considerations that may deny liability.
What was demonstrated by medical experts regarding tortious exposure?
Tortious exposure materially increased the risk of contracting dermatitis.
What is the basis for the House of Lords imposing liability on the defendant?
The breach had materially increased the risk of the claimant’s injury.
What is a key characteristic of the material increase in risk test?
The claimant does not need to prove that the breach made any actual contribution to their loss.
In which type of cases is the material increase in risk test confined?
Industrial disease cases where there is scientific uncertainty over cause.
Which disease is most widely associated with the material increase in risk test?
Mesothelioma.
What was the outcome of the Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd case?
The House of Lords applied the material increase in risk test and the claim succeeded.
What challenge did medical experts face in the Fairchild case?
They could not determine which exposure with which employer caused the illness.
What distinguishes single agency cases from others?
Only one causal agent is involved.
What was the outcome of the Wilsher case regarding causal agents?
The claim failed due to multiple causal agents being involved.
What did the court decide in Hotson v East Berkshire Health Authority?
The ‘but for’ test failed as the child was most likely paralyzed by the original fall.
