Independent tort of negligence (act-omission) Negligence- doing something which a reasonable man would not do or vice versa.

Negligence is a kind of tort or civil wrong which refers to a breach of duty by one person to another or an act done unintentionally. Negligence is an independent and specific tort and also may be a factor or ingredient in another tort. To succeed in an action for Negligence, the claimant must prove the three ingredients namely, Duty of Care - the defendant must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff either at Common Law or Statute; Breach - the defendant must have broken the duty of care by an act or omission which fell below the standard of care that was required of him or her; Damage - the plaintiff must have suffered damage which was caused by the defendant's breach of the duty of care that was of a type that was a foreseeable result from such breach.

The development of modern law of negligence owes much to the decision of the Donoghue v. Stevenson case. Mrs. Donoghue had consumed part of a ginger beer containing a decomposed snail while in a public bar. She sued the manufacturer of the drink, Mr. Stevenson, for her consequent illness. The House of Lords in its decision held that though Mrs. Donoghue, the victim had a valid claim, such a claim should not exist and thus it should be treated as a new product liability case. It was further held that there should be liability for negligent act and the law should recognize the principle that every person owes a duty of reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions, which can be reasonably foreseen as likely to injure his neighbor.