-Tort – Wrongful act/ Fault/ Loss

-Function – to provide compensation to victim

- to provide mean of deterrence
-Overlap between tort (enforcement of Duty of care) and contract (enforcement of
Promise)
(Compensation on wrongful conduct) and between Criminal Law (Punishment on
wrongful conduct)

-Tort – Relationship between wrong doer and victim

- Tort of negligence = Duty of care + Breach + Causation +Defense
- DoC = Forseenability + Proximity + Policy (Justice, Fairness & )
- Breach = (1) Question of Law (Reasonable person standard: ambiguous device (policy
instrument; Factors concerned: Likelihood, gravity, difficulty, & purpose; Common
practice; Statutory Standard; Special categories of situation: profession, medical/ legal
practitioner; children; infant; emergency situation; sport)
+ (2) Question of evidence (Balance of probability, S.62, res ipsa principal,
Baker)
- Causation = Factual causation (But for Test (Problems: Multiple possible cause,
Multiple possible successive cause; loss of chance of recovery); Effective Cause Test
(Galu): Intervening acts, when break the chain of causation; innocent invention act = do
not break the chain of causation; negligent/ reckness/ deliberate intervention = break) +
Legal causation (remoteness: Type and Kind of Loss: Reasonably foreseeable even the
extend and manner of loss need not be reasonably foreseeable; Take the person as you
find him: thin skull rule)

- Defense: (1) Contributory negligence: lead to a reduction of damage

 The claimant fail to undertake reasonable care for his own
safety
 The claimant
(2) Consense to the risk
The claimant knew the nature and extent of the risk;
The claimant agree to that
(3) Illegality
Sufficiently serious crime is in relation to the conduct

- Psychiatric illness
o The illness is clinically diagnosable
o Classify the claimant: Primary v.s. Secondary
o Personable injury leads to psy. Injury (Pri)
o Reasonable foresee ability of danger (Pri)
o Secondary: Proximity of relationship (Spouse, children)
 Time & Place (in the accident)
 Perception (experience the accident, suddenly shock 
hear/see)
- Rescuer
 o No duty to rescue (omission v.s. positive action in common law)
(Exam Essay Qs)
o Exception: Relationship of dependency: School
o Rescuer owes a duty to take reasonable care & not create greater
danger (Defense is rare and court is reluctant to impose duty)
o Rescued party owe a DoC to Rescuer
- Loss: Consequential economic loss v.s. pure economic loss
o Exam Essay Qs!
o Court tends to ignore pure econ. Loss:
o Exception: Negligence statement
o Exception: Negligence services (including legal services)
 Special Relationship of proximity  Reasonable professional
responsibility to victim; victim reasonably rely on the
professional responsibility
- Employment liability
o DoC owed to employee
o Rule of liability  Vicarious liability
o Factors to determine the existence of employment relationship:
 Control!
o Close connection test
o Statutory DoC: Presumptions to interpret the statue: apply to worker,
working safety, etc
Exams:
- Policy considerations  Essay (Rescuer (positive act v.s. omission 
Common law approach), (Pure Economic loss  Valid claim for damages?
 Common law evaluation)
- Formula: Problem Qs
o To identify the issue
o To state briefly the law
o Apply the fact!!
o Conclusion