Introduction:
In this essay, the author’s aim is to examine the tort of negligence, the component parts of negligence in more detail, the landmark case law that acted as a catalyst for the change in the standard of care in Ireland. In the 20th century, the remarkable development of the modern tort of negligence originated on the neighbour principle in Donoghue v Stevenson in 1932. Thereby, a number of elements have been recognised in order to provide the tort of negligence. These include the duty of care, the breach of duty, damages and close casual connection between the parties. Eventually the question of whether a duty of care exists in any given relationship is related to the neighbour principle and is a question to be determined by the …show more content…
The case involved, (the plaintiff) Donochue consumed a bottle of ginger beer which was purchased by her friend. The ginger beer was supplied in a dark opaque bottle, and having drank some of the beer she poured the remainder of the content into the glass in which the remains of a decomposed snail fell out of the bottle. Afterwards, Donochue became unwell and sued the manufacturer for damage. In this case, the plaintiff claimed that the manufacturer owed a duty of care to the consumer to ensure that the bottle of drink was fit for purpose in which no other person had an opportunity to inspect. Although this case is significant as a watershed in product liability law, it is most certainly famous because of Lord Atkin’s new law called the neighbour principle in which a framework was set up for determining the existence of a duty of care. Legally speaking, the manufacturer was found liable for the injuries to Donochue. Under Lord Atkin’s principle, if the parties were considered to be ‘neighbours’ in the eyes of the law, then a duty of care may arise. The question which then must be asked is who is one’s neighbour? (Burke and Corbett, …show more content…
In this legal sense, one’s neighbour is any person whom one can foresees as being affected by ones omissions or one’s act.
A number of elements have been recognised in order to provide the tort of negligence. Firstly, there has to be a duty of care. Secondly, there has to be a breach of duty of this care. Thirdly, there has to be damage or actual loss and finally, there has to be a close casual connection between the parties (Van Dokkum, 2011). This assignment will now discuss all these point in more detail.
The duty of Care:
The neighbour principle as outlined above in Donoghue was the cornerstone of the duty of care principle. This duty of care was later developed in Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] A.C. 728, in which two stage test were developed. First, was there sufficient relationship of neighbourhood or proximity, and secondly, in the question of affirmative, was there any consideration to limit the scope of persons to whom it is owed the damages to which a breach of it may give