NAME: DAPAAH ENOCH

INDEX NUMBER: 052020910057

CLASS: DBA2

COURSE: LAW OF TORT (ASSIGNMENT)

DATE: 16TH OF MARCH 2022

QUESTIONS

1. Explain what negligence is in the law of tort.

2. In order to succeed in an action for negligence what are the ingredients that the plaintiff
(injured party) must prove, on the balance of probabilities. With the aid of examples,
decided cases and relevant authorities explain these ingredients.
ANSWERS

1. Negligence is when an individual does not carry out an act which a reasonably careful
person would or does something which a reasonably careful person would not do, causing
harm or loss to another individual.
Therefore, negligence in torts can be simply defined as an individual failing to carry out a
certain standards of conduct. Negligent is a breach of legal duty of care causing
underserved injury or damage by the defendant to the plaintiff.
Example; ‘A’ owes a duty of care to drive carefully at a certain limit when it is raining. If
‘A’ goes beyond the limit whiles driving and mistakenly hits ‘B’. It is said that ‘A’ failed
to carry out the conduct of driving at a certain limit a reasonably careful person would
whiles raining. Therefore ‘A’ had breached the legal duty of care causing damage to ‘B’.

When an individual violates these standards, the law requires that the individual will
compensate the party to who they caused harm or injury.
Example is in Donoghue v Stephenson (1932) AC 562, HL

2. In order to succeed in an action for negligence, the ingredients that the plaintiff (injured
party) must prove, on the balance of probabilities are;

a) LEGAL DUTY OF CARE: This is where the defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff
under the circumstances;
When assessing a negligence claim, the first step is to look to see whether or not the
defendant owed the plaintiff a legal duty of care. In some circumstances, the relationship
between the plaintiff and defendant might create a legal duty - for instance, a doctor owes
a patient a legal duty to provide him or her with competent medical care. Or, the
defendant may owe the plaintiff a legal duty to act with reasonable care in a certain
 situation - as is the case when one is expected to operate a motor vehicle safely and with
a certain level of due care.
Another example is in the case of Haynes v Harwood [1935] 1 KB 146, CA; In this case
the servant who is the defendant owes a duty of care to the people on the street including
the police constable, the plaintiff.

Also, in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, HL

By Scots and English law alike the manufacturer of an article of food, medicine or the
like, sold by him to a distributor in circumstances which prevent the distributor or the
ultimate purchaser or consumer from discovering by inspection any defect, is under a
legal duty to the ultimate purchaser or consumer to take reasonable care that the article is
free from defect likely to cause injury to health.

b) BREACH OF DUTY: This is where the defendant breached that legal duty by acting or
failing to act in a certain way;
Next, the court will look to see whether the defendant breached this duty by doing (or not
doing something) that a "reasonably prudent person" would do under similar
circumstances. The term "reasonably prudent person" refers to a legal standard that
represents how the average person would responsibly act in a certain situation. Stated
simply, the defendant likely will be found negligent if the average person, knowing what
the defendant knew at the time, would have known that someone might have been injured
as a result of his or her actions - and would have acted differently than the defendant did
in that situation. Example; A dog owner who knows their dog is very aggressive towards
children brings the dog to a tee-ball game, and the dog viciously bites the child.
Another example is in the case of Weller v Foot and Mouth Disease Research Institute
[1966] 1 QB 569, QBD;
It was said that the defendant breached the legal duty of care through carelessly allowing
the spread of the virus hence causing damage to the plaintiff.
c) CAUSATION: This is when the defendant's actions (or inaction) actually cause injury to
the plaintiff. Causation requires a plaintiff to show that the defendant’s breach of duty
was the cause of the plaintiff’s injury and losses;
The third element requires that the plaintiff show that the defendant's negligence actually
caused his or her injury. Sure, someone might be acting negligently, but the plaintiff can
only recover if this negligence somehow causes the injury. For example, it wouldn't be
fair to sue someone who was negligently texting and driving for a totally unrelated fender
bender that happened just across the street - just because the driver was negligent. Also in
the case of Bradford v Robinsons Rental Co. Ltd;
The plaintiff was exposed to extreme cold and fatigued, in the cause of his employment
by his employers and, as a consequence, suffered from frostbite. It was held that the
defendants were liable because the cause of the frostbite was due to the plaintiff
(employee) exposed to extreme cold and fatigued, in the course of his employment by his
employers (defendants).

Another aspect of this element looks at whether the defendant could reasonably have
foreseen that his or her actions might cause an injury. If the defendant's actions somehow
caused the plaintiff injury through a random, unexpected act of nature, the injury would
most likely be deemed unforeseeable - and the defendant will not likely be found liable.

d) Damages – This is where the plaintiff’s harmed or injured as a result of the defendant's
actions;
The final element of a negligence case is "damages." This element requires that the court
be able to compensate the plaintiff for his or her injury - usually through monetary
compensation for expenses such as medical care or property repair.
Damages are the final element of negligence. Because the plaintiff suffered injury or loss
which a reasonable person in that same situation could expect or foresee, monetary
compensation may be the only form of relief for those injuries. Damages include medical
care, lost wages, emotional turmoil and more.
For example, if:
The manager of a sports equipment store displays heavy medicine balls on a flimsy top shelf.
The shelf collapses and the balls start tumbling down rapidly striking a customer on the head and
causing him to suffer a concussion. The customer has to miss several weeks of work and receives
a pricey hospital bill. Monetary compensation will compensate the customer for his injury, lost
wages, and medical expenses.

Also, in the case of Osemobor v. Niger Biscuit (1973) 1 CCHC J At 71; the plaintiff became ill
due to a biscuit he bought from a shop and ate. It was said that he found a decayed tooth
embedded in the biscuit that caused harm to the plaintiff. The defendant (manufacturer) was
liable since his suffering from illness was reasonably foreseeable.

In the other hand, the defendant won’t be held liable if the damage suffered was not traced to the
negligent act or omission of the defendant.