The Tort of Negligence in Common Law

Negligence is a type of civil wrongdoing (tort) that happens when someone fails to take reasonable care, and their actions (or lack of them) cause harm or loss to another person. It’s one of the most common types of claims in personal injury, medical malpractice, and other civil cases.

Key Elements of Negligence

For someone to be held legally responsible for negligence, the injured party must prove these four key points:

1. Duty of Care

   • The defendant (the person being sued) owed a duty of care to the claimant (the injured party).

   • In simple terms, this means they had a legal obligation to act in a way that wouldn’t harm others.

   • This principle was established in the case Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932), which introduced the idea that we must avoid harming those who could be "neighbours" in a legal sense—anyone who might reasonably be affected by our actions.

2. Breach of Duty

   • The defendant didn’t meet the standard of care expected of them.

   • This is judged by what a "reasonable person" would have done in the same situation. For professionals, this standard is higher and based on their field of expertise, as seen in Bolam v. Friern Hospital Management Committee (1957).

3. Causation

   • The harm must be directly caused by the defendant’s breach of duty.

   • Courts ask two questions:

     • Factual causation: Would the harm have happened without the defendant’s actions?

     • Legal causation: Was the harm foreseeable, or was it too remote to blame the defendant? This was clarified in The Wagon Mound (No 1) (1961).

4. Damage

   • The claimant must show they suffered actual harm—physical, emotional, financial, or property damage. Without real harm, there’s no case.

Defences Against Negligence

A defendant may argue:

• Contributory Negligence: The claimant was partly responsible for their own harm.

• Consent (Volenti Non Fit Injuria): The claimant willingly accepted the risks.

• Exclusion Clauses: Agreements may limit liability, although these are subject to legal limits.

Why It Matters

Negligence is important because it holds people accountable for causing harm and ensures victims can seek compensation. It also encourages everyone to act responsibly and avoid causing unnecessary harm to others.

In short, negligence is about fairness—helping people recover when they’ve been wronged while also setting reasonable limits on responsibility.