Tort and negligence

This subtopic covers general torts, negligence and nuisance.

For a summary in tabular form of some of the more illustrative decisions in negligence claims (as from 1 January 2020), see Practice Notes:

  1. Negligence claims—illustrative decisions (2025)

  2. Negligence claims—illustrative decisions (2020–2024) [Archived]

What are claims in tort?

Definition and background

The two key and mutually supporting functions of tort law are to:

  1. compensate people when their rights are infringed, and

  2. provide a mechanism for redress, to thereby define and uphold those rights

The courts strive to strike a balance between promoting corrective justice and remedying wrongs on the one hand and not contributing to the creation of an overly litigious society that believes there must be a remedy for every misfortune on the other. In attempting to achieve this, judges consider the balance of risk and responsibility at both an individual and a societal level.

Tort law seeks to provide protection of varying degrees for physical and mental health, personal property and real property (ie land) as well as personal privacy and reputation.

For further guidance on the evolution of tort

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Latest Dispute Resolution News

No harm, no foul? Court of Appeal provides clarifications around controllers’ liability in the context of compensation claims under Article 82 of the UK GDPR (Farley and others v Paymaster (1836) Ltd (trading as Equiniti) (Information Commissioner intervening))

Information Law analysis: In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision which denied compensation to individuals affected by a data breach. The judgment contains helpful clarifications regarding compensation claims made pursuant to Article 82 of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the UK GDPR), including the requirements for establishing UK GDPR infringement, the scope of non-material damage and, more broadly, the position of the UK courts in relation to EU Court of Justice case law and its application in the context of domestic data protection rules. The Court of Appeal held that bringing a UK GDPR infringement claim does not require proof that personal data was actually disclosed to third parties. Unlawful processing is a sufficient basis in principle for damage to be suffered. There is also no minimum threshold for non-material damage when it comes to a data subject’s entitlement to compensation under Article 82 of the UK GDPR. The scope of such damage can include an objective, well-founded fear or apprehension of misuse of personal data. This judgment is also a helpful reminder of the broad scope of activities that fall within the concept of processing and the importance of controllers’ compliance with Articles 24, 25 and 32 of the UK GDPR and the general principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR. Written by Marija Nonkovic, associate at Kemp IT Law.

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