Question: Describe the various ‘tests’ and principles that the law has adopted to determine whether one party owes another a duty of care in the tort of negligence and assess whether the duty of care concept is effective as a ‘control device’.
Grade First, Second year, Undergraduate Tort Law.
Answer: In order to fully understand the tests and principles in the tort of negligence, and the duty of care
concept, one must consider these aspects in light of their historical development. Originally in
English law, there was little acknowledgment of any theory relating to liability. The term liability was considered in the terms of ‘the form of action, not of the substantive grounds for allowing the
action’. It later came to be perceived that tortious liability should also take into 1 account whether or not there was a duty or obligation, rather than solely an action made against the defendant. This idea was furthered by Buller’s 1768 publication Nisi Prius which stated that ‘every man ought to take reasonable care that he does not injure his neighbour’2, including if it were ‘occasioned by negligence’. Although this concept has now shaped modern tort law, it was slow to de...(short extract)
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- Subject: Law
- Course: Tort Law
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 70%
- Words: 2096
- Date submitted: May 10, 2016
- Date written: April, 2015
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 7348
