|
A better definition of negligence in law will encompass its every aspect, including the duty of care, breech, harm as well as causation. What is negligence? The basic definition of negligence in law is the failure of a person to take reasonable care to avoid harm to another person. For Negligence to arise the defendant should owe a duty of care to the plaintiff. The defendant, through his actions or omissions should breech that duty and the plaintiff should suffer an injury or loss as a result of that breech. Duty of care is a legal obligation which requires that the persons should follow a standard of reasonable care when they are engaged in activities which can cause foreseeable harm other persons. What is reasonable care can differ from one situation to another. At common law duty of care was considered to exist between persons who were already parties to a contract. Nevertheless, the courts later expanded the concept to cover various other persons including manufacturers of products, holding that they owe a duty towards their customers. When it is established that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, the next question the court will have to consider is whether the duty was breeched. Common law requires that there should be some connection between the breech of duty and the harm, and that connection is referred to as causation. However, establishing causation in some cases such as medical negligence can be extremely difficult. Lastly, it must be shown that the plaintiff in fact suffered some harm. If the harm is evident as a physical injury to the plaintiff or damage to his property, recovering compensation may not be complicated. However, if the harm is psychiatric there will be certain limitations in allowing compensation for such cases. In most cases, losses which are purely economic in nature will not be recoverable as well.
|
We Speak Your Language
|