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Negligence 225

Negligence

The tort of negligence is far and away the most important tort. Other torts are narrower
and more specific, applying in more limited circumstances. The tort of negligence is very
widely defined and can be committed in a multitude of ways. In order to establish the tort
of negligence the claimant must prove three things, on a balance of probabilities:

(i) that the defendant owed him or her a duty of care;

(ii) that the defendant breached that duty; and

(iii) that a foreseeable type of damage was caused by the breach.

Each of these requirements needs to be proved, and so each must be considered in detail.

That a duty of care was owed

The following case is the foundation of the modern law of negligence.

Figure 8.1Contractual and tortious liability compared

Donoghue vStevenson (1932) (House of Lords)

The claimant and her friend visited a café. The claimant’s friend bought some ice cream

and a bottle of ginger beer for the claimant. The claimant poured some ginger beer over the

ice cream and ate some of this mixture. When the claimant’s friend poured out the rest of