Property negligence

Negligence

Negligence imposes liability for loss or injury caused by carelessness. Two central questions arise, which are:

1. •

   what constitutes carelessness?

2. •

   when is liability not imposed even though the defendant was careless?

The courts use the concept of 'duty of care' to answer both questions. The concept has three parts:

1. •

   foreseeability—are the defendant’s acts potentially harmful to those whom a reasonable person would have foreseen as likely to be adversely affected by such action?

2. •

   proximity—is the relationship between the parties significantly close?

3. •

   fairness—is it 'fair, just and reasonable' to impose liability on the defendant?

On establishing that a duty of care exists, it is then necessary to consider whether or not there has been a breach of that duty. The law adopts the artificial objective standard of the reasonable person, taking into account four factors:

1. •

   probability—a...