L5- Negligence Elements

Question 1

Negligence purpose

Answer 1

Negligence requires individuals who owe a duty of care to another person to prevent reasonably foreseeable (predictable) harm from occuring

Question 2

Elements of negligence

Answer 2

1- Defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care
2- Defendant breached that duty of care
3- Defendant’s breach caused harm to the plaintiff
4- Plaintiff suffered loss

Question 3

Element 1: Duty of care

Answer 3

-the legal obligation to be cautious and careful, keeping other people in mind when doing anything that could cause them harm
-if risk was reasonably foreseeable, then the neighbour principle can be established (‘neighbour’= someone who can be directly impacted)

Question 4

Settled Law

Answer 4

Certain relationships whereby the law has enshrined that a DOC relationship exists
-eg. teacher/student, doctor or nurse/patient, motorist/other road users, manufacturer/final consumer

Question 5

Novel situation

Answer 5

there is no settled law and so a DOC is arguable based on the circumstances

Question 6

Element 2: Breach

Answer 6

when a person fails to do what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation
BREACHED IF:
- reasonably foreseeable that the breach would result in harm to the plaintiff
-risk was not significant
-a reasonable person in the same situation would have taken precautions to eliminate the risk

Question 7

Element 3: Causation

Answer 7

the plaintiff must prove that the defendant’s breach was a necessary condition of their harm/loss
-But for test can be used to establish this
-there may be intervening acts that break the chain of causation

Question 8

Element 4: Loss, injury or damage

Answer 8

the plaintiff can only seek a legal remedy if they can prove that they have suffered injury, loss of damage, even if it is minor
-can be financial, personal injury, etc.
-The loss cannot be too remote from the breach so the plaintiff must prove that the loss was reasonably foreseeable