Negligence.docx

Negligence.docx

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Negligence

Tort

Tortlawisconcernedwithwrongfulconductbyonepersonthatcausesharmtoanother.

Atortisacivilwrong.Itprovidesamechanismwherebyanindividualcanprotecttheirpersonalandpropertyrights.Iftheserightsareinfringed侵犯,thevictimmayseekcompensationfromthewrongdoer.

Thereissomeoverlapbetweentortlawandcriminallaw:

aperson’sactmayinvolvebothacrimeandatort,egassault袭击,battery,theft/conversion.

However,criminalproceedingsaretakeninthenameofthestate,whileproceedingintortaretakenbytheinjuredpersonasprivatecitizen.

Thestandardsofproofdiffer:

-Incriminalaction,itis“beyondreasonabledoubt”

-Incivilaction,itis“onthebalanceofprobabilities”

TortversusCrime

Tort

Crime

Aimstocompensate

Aimstopunish

Initiatedbyindividuals

Initiatedbystate

Outcomeisremedyforplaintiff

Outcomeisconvictionorreleaseofwrongdoer

Negligence

ThetortofNegligencemeansafailuretotakereasonablecaretopreventlossordamagetoothersthatwasforeseeable,andshouldhavebeenprevented.

Categoriesofconductinclude:

-Apositiveact

-Afailuretoact（omission）:

HawkinsvClaytonB在C立遗嘱把房给H，C6年后才找H，房贬值

-Makingastatementorgivingadvice,orfailingtodoso:

RogersvWhitakerR帮W做眼手术，前没说风险，后整盲另一只眼

Categoriesofharminclude:

-Physicalinjurytotheperson:

HolevHocking做的士受伤

-Physicaldamagetoproperty

-Purelyeconomicloss:

PerrevApandPtyLtdA在P旁种野，传染病毒，令P赔钱

ToestablishliabilityforNegligenceitmustbeestablishedonthefactsoftheparticularcasethat

-Thedefendantowedtheplaintiffadutyofcare

-Thedefendantbreachedthedutyofcare

-Damagemusthavebeensufferedasaresultofthebreachofduty

DutyofCare

Therearethreefactors;

①Firstly,itmusthavebeenreasonablyforeseeabletoapersoninthepositionofthedefendantthatinjuryorharmofsomekindwouldhappentosomeoneasaresultofthekindofconductengagedinbythedefendant.

②Secondly,theplaintiffmustbeapersonoramemberofaclassofpersonswhoitwasforeseeablemightsufferharmasaresultofthedefendant’sconduct.

–WaverlyCouncilvFereirra

③Thirdly,arecognised'dutysituationorrelationship'musthaveexistedinwhichthedefendantwasrequiredtopreventtheforeseeableharmtotheplaintiff.

Exampleofdutysituations

Forexample,adutytopreventforeseeableharmhasbeenrecognizedbythecourtsasarisingbetween:

–Occupiersofpropertyandpersonsenteringtheproperty

AustralianSafewayStoresPtyLtdvZaluznaZ在S门口滑倒，受伤

–Statutoryauthoritiesandthepublic:

WaverlyCouncilvFereirra12岁F在公园玩时死了，F父告W

–Roadusersandotherpersonsontheroad

–Personsinafiduciaryrelationship,e.g.principalsandagents

–Personsinacontractualrelationship

–Manufacturersandconsumers:

DonoghuevStevensonD去餐厅，见啤酒里有蛇，告S和生产商

Inmoreunusualtypesofcase,thecourtsweighupvariousfactorswhichmaypointtotheexistenceofadutyofcare,forexample,considerationsofpolicyandfairness;theextenttowhichtheharmwasforeseeable;thepotentialnumberofsimilarcasesthatmightarise;andthelikelihoodofcreatinganunreasonablecommercialburdenbyrecognisingadutyofcare.

Incasescausingpurelyeconomicloss,asituationmustbeshowntoexistinwhichtheplaintiffwasvulnerable,dependentorpowerless,andthedefendantinapositionofcontrolorpower.

–PerrevApandPtyLtd

–WoolcockStreetInvestmentsPtyLtdvCDGPtyLtd

Whenconductthatcausespurelyeconomiclossconsistsofgivingwronginformationoradvice,adutyofcareonlyexistsif:

–thespeakeroughttohaverealisedinthecircumstancesthattheywerebeingreliedontogiveaccurateinformationoradviceonthebasisofwhichtheotherpartymightdecidetoact;and

–itwasreasonablefortheotherpartytoactonthatinformationoradvicegiven.

–Shaddock&AssociatesPtyLtdvParramattaCityCouncil

S买地前问P路会不会变宽，P说不会，S买后发现会

BreachofDutyofCare

Apersonwhoowesadutyofcaremusttakeappropriatestepstoavoidtheharmfromoccurring.Thestandardis:

whatstepswouldanordinaryprudent谨慎的persontakeinthecircumstancestoavoidtheharm?

Usethereasonablepersontest:

howwouldhe/sheactintheshoesofthedefendant?

Ifthedefendant’sconductfallsbelowthestandardofthereasonablepersontheyhavebreachedtheirdutyofcare

BreachofDutyofCare:

Factorstoconsider

1.Theprobabilitythattheharmwouldoccurifcarewasnottaken

RomeovConservationCommissionofNorthernTerritory

R饮了酒从悬崖跌下，受伤

BoltonvStoneB在家门口俾旁棒球场的棒球打伤

2.Thelikelyseriousnessoftheharm

ParisvStepneyBoroughCouncilP在S打工，整盲另一只眼

3.Theburden责任oftakingprecautions采取预防措施toavoidtheriskofharm

CaledonianCollieriesvSpeirsS开车被火车撞死，老婆告C没任何提醒

4.Thesocialutilityoftheactivitythatcreatestheriskofharm

MercervTramwaysCom’er

5.Thesocialutilityoftheactivitythatcreatestheriskofharm

DamagecausedbyBreachofDutyofCare

Thedamagesufferedbyplaintiffmustbecausedbythedefendant

MarchvStramare

Theharmmustnotbetooremote-apersoninthedefendant’spositionmusthaverecognizedtheharmasarealpossibility,notveryremoteorbeyongwhatwouldhavebeenreasonablycontemplated.

WagonMound

Harmthatcannotbequantifiedinmonetarytermsisnotrecognized;

Ordinarygrieforsorrowisnotrecognizedasharm.

Q3B没有买票，有意外，K照顾B辞职，抵押被银行收

Firstissue:

istherockconcertorganiserliableinnegligencetoBen?

Rules/Principles:

Tosucceedinanactioninnegligence,theplaintiffmustproveonthebalanceofprobabilitiesthat（a）adutyofcareisowed,（b）thatthedutyofcarehasbeenbreachedand（c）thatthebreachcauseddamagewhichisnottooremotefromthebreach.

（a）Toestablishadutyofcare,theplaintiffmustsatisfythe“neighbourprinciple”establishedbyLordAkininDonoghuevStevenson.Undertheneighbourtest,apersonmusttakereasonablecaretoavoidactsoromissionsthattheycanreasonablyforeseewouldbelikelytoinjuretheirneighbour.Inlaw,yourneighbouris“thosepersonssocloselyanddirectlyaffectedbyyouractsthatyououghtreasonablyhavethemincontemplationasbeingsoaffectedwhendirectingyourmindtotheactsoromissionswhicharecalledintoquestion.”Studentsmayalsoconsiderdiscussingwhatwasonceseenasthesecondrequirementinestablishingadutyofcareinphysicalinjurycases-thatofproximity.Proximityinvolvesanevaluationoftheclosenessoftherelationshipbetweentheparties.AsstatedbyDeaneJinJaenschvCoffey,proximitymaybeeitherphysical,circumstantialorcausal.However,inrecentcasestheHighCourtofAustraliahasquestionedtheuseofproximityindeterminingtheexistenceofadutyofcare.AsstatedbyMcHughJinTamevNSW,“youcomeunderadutyonlyinrespectofactsandomissionsthatyoucanreasonablyforeseemayaffectyourneighbours-personswhoaredirectlyandcloselyaffectedbyyouracts.Butthatisnotagroundforregardingproximityasafactorthatisindependentofreasonableforeseeability.”Thus,proximityisnolongerconsideredtobeaseparaterequirement,butfallsunderwhetherthetestofreasonableforeseeabilityissatisfied.

Studentsshouldalsoconsiderwhetherthereareanyrelevantestablisheddutiesofcare.Precedenthasestablishedthatoccupiersoweadutyofcaretoentrantstothepremises.Withrespecttolawfulentrants,occupiersoweadutyofcaretoavoidanyreasonablyforeseeableriskofinjury（AustralianSafewayStoresvZaluzna）.Insomecircumstances,adutyofcareisalsoowedtouninvitedvisitorssuchastrespassers.InHackshawvShaw,itwasheldthatthedefendantfarmerowedadutyofcaretoatrespassertoavoid“ultra-hazardous”acts（firingbullets）.However,inBryantvFawdontheoccupierwasheldnottooweadutyofcaretotheplaintifftrespasser,giventhattheinjurywasnotreasonablyforeseeable（theplaintiffclimbeda1.8metrefencetogettoatoiletandwasknockedunconsciouswhensheattemptedtoflushthetoilet’sdisusedconcretecisterninthedark）.

（b）Theremustbeabreachinthestandardofcare.Apersonbreachestheirdutyofcareiftheyfailtomeetthestandardofcarethatthereasonablepersonisrequiredtoshowtoavoidunreasonableriskofharm（ImbreevMcNeilly）.Thereasonablepersonneednotrespondtoariskthatis“far-fetchedandfanciful”.

Howareasonablepersonwouldactintheshoesofthedefendantmaybegaugedbyreferencetocertaincriteria,includingtheprobabilityoftheriskofinjury（BoltonvStone）,theseriousnessoftheconsequences（ParisvStepneyBouroughCouncil）,thepossibilityofeliminatingthoserisks（WoodsvMulti-SportHoldingPtyLtd）,compliancewithusualpractice（MercervCommissionerforRoadTransportandTramways）andtheutilityofthedefendant’sconduct（WattvHertfordshire）.

（c）Thebreachmusthavecauseddamage.Thisisestablishedbywayoftwotests:

（i）causation–‘butfor’thebreachthedamagewouldnothavehappened（ChappelvHart,CorkvKirbyMcLean）;and

（ii）remoteness–isthedamagereasonablyforeseeable?

（TheWagonMoundcases）.

Oncenegligenceisestablished,itisnecessarytoconsiderwhetheranydefencesapply.Ifthedefendantcanshowtheplaintiffvoluntarilyassumedtherisk,thedefendantescapesallliability（AgarvHyde）.Inthecaseofcontributorynegligence,theplaintiff’scompensationisreducedtotheextentthatthecourtconsidersjustandequitablehavingregardtotheplaintiff’sshareintheresponsibilityforthedamage（s26WrongsAct1958（Vic））.

Application:

Studentsshouldconsiderallaspectsoftheissue,includingar