9.2 Key Concepts of Civil Law

plaintiff

a party who makes a legal claim against another party in court

defendant

a party who is alleged to have breached a civil law and is being sued

sue

to take civil action against another person, claiming that they infringed some legal right of the plaintiff

loss

a type of harm or damage suffered by a person

can be economic and non-economic

breach

the breaking of or failure to fulfil or comply with a duty or obligation

causation

the direct relationship between one event and another, where the second event was caused by event 1 and wouldn’t have happened without event 1

limitation of actions

the restriction on bringing a civil law claim after the allowed time

once a period of time has passed- plaintiff may be barred from obtaining a remedy

counterclaim

a seperate claim made by the defendant in response to the plaintiff’s claim (usually heard at the same time by the court)

balance of probabilities

standard of proof in a civil dispute - requires the plaintiff to establish that it is more probable than not that their claim is true

breach in negligence claim

plaintiff may allege that the defendant breached their duty of care to the plaintiff

breach in contract law

plaintiff may allege that the defendant has breached an agreement that was reached between them

breach in discrimination claim

plaintiff may allege the defendant breached the relevant laws that prohibit people and organisations from discriminating against a persn on the basis of a personal characteristic

for a plaintiff to use causation in a civil case

needs to prove that the defendant’s actions caused or resulted in the haarm suffered by the plaintiff - that the harm would not have occurred if the defendant had not acted in the way they did

for causation to be proven

• needs to be a casual link between the actions of the defendant , and the harm that the plaintiff suffered

• can be an intervening event or break in the chain of causation

  • when something occurs after the defendant’s actions which may be considered to have actually caused the injury or loss, rather than the defendant’s actions

types of losses

• economic or financial loss (losing income)

• property damage

• personal injury

• pain and suffering

• loss of amenity

reason for limitation of action in a civil case

so disputes can be resolved efficently and defendant does not have to be subjected to a claim a significant time after an alleged act occurred