BTEC Law, Negligence, Duty of Care

What case brought about the duty of care, neighbour principle?

Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)

What order does the defendant and claimant go in the case name?

Claimant v defendant

Explain the Donoghue v Stevenson case.

The claimant visited a cafe with a friend and found the decomposing remains of a dead snail which made her unwell, suffer shock, severe bout of gastroenteritis and she spent several days in hospital

What did Lord Atkin say when he made the neighbour principle?

You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour

What case changed the neighbour principle?

Caparo Industries PLC v Dickman (1990)

Explain the Caparo Industries PLC v Dickman case.

The claimants were shareholders in a company and after reading annual accounts which were sent to all shareholders, the claimants bough more shares and eventually took over the company only to find out the accounts were wrong and the company had made a loss rather than a profit shown by the accounts

What was caused by the Caparo case?

The three part test

Explain the duty of care caused by Caparo case.

Was the damage or injury reasonably foreseeable?

Was there sufficient proximity between the claimant and the defendant?

Is it fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care?

What does reasonably foreseeable mean in the 3 part Caparo test?

That the defendants actions are ones which would be expected to cause loss of damage to anyone in the claimants position. You could reasonably foresee it.

What case demonstrates 'reasonably foreseeable'?

Langley v Dray (1998)

Langley v Dray

A police officer was injured in a crash while pursuing a defendant driving a stolen car. The Court of Appeal ruled that the defendant knew he was being pursued and therefore by increasing his speed he caused the police to drive faster and risk being injured