Overview The most commonly encountered civil wrong is the tort of negligence. It is a principle of law of the very widest practical application. A very significant amount of all litigation in the courts is based on claims for negligence. Typically, there has been some incident or accident, such as a road traffic accident, an accident at work or a […]
Duty of Care and Neighbour Principle The famous case of Donoghue v Stevenson (which was quickly accepted in Ireland) held that a manufacturer of a product owed a duty of care to the user. The product must not be so defective that it causes injury to those who may be expected to use it in the ordinary course of things. […]
Establishing Liability Liability in negligence requires proof of whether the defendant was, in fact, negligent. Stated otherwise, this requires that he failed to take the relevant degree of care in the circumstances. In broad terms, the relevant degree of care is that which is reasonable in the circumstances. The defendant has failed to act as a reasonable person would do. […]
Meaning of Negligence I Negligence is used in a number of senses. In one sense, it refers to a person’s state of mind. An act is negligent when it is done without giving due weight to the risks involved. A person (and his state of mind) may be negligent, even though the person considers the risk and exercises some degree […]
Limits to Neighbour Principle The famous neighbour principle re-stated the general basis of liability in negligence. It stated that “you must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour”. The test identified a neighbour as a person who is so closely and directly affected by your actions that […]
Liability of Authorities In broad terms, public authorities are subject to civil liability for negligence and other civil wrongs in the same way as private individuals and companies. The State and other public bodies are responsible for the actions and omissions of their employees and agents under the principles of vicarious liability. In some circumstances, statute law gives an express […]
Prisoners Prison authorities do not owe a general to the public at large to keep persons in custody, such as to be liable for their actions on escape. However, in particular circumstances where prisoners were insufficiently controlled in the vicinity of a person’s property with glaringly obvious risks, a duty has been held to apply. The House of Lords allowed […]
Psychological Injuries The law allows recovery of damages for so-called nervous shock within certain parameters and subject to limitations. Nervous shock is the most commonly used legal label for psychiatric or psychological injury. It may, in some contexts, be described as post-traumatic (stress) disorder. Psychiatric injuries include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychosomatic pain, anxiety and panic attacks. In this context, […]
Fear of Disease A number of cases in Ireland have been taken in relation to the so-called fear of disease. Where a person suffered a mental shock on account of being told that he had some risk of a serious future illness, the High Court was willing, in principle, to find the person who caused the initial illness or injury […]
Statutory Schemes There is a vast amount of statute law which creates obligations and duties and rights for persons and businesses in a range of contexts. The existence of a statutory duty does not necessarily mean that damages can be recovered by a person who suffers loss or damage where there has been a breach by a State authority or […]
Civil Claims & Statutory Rights It was said where there is a right, there must necessarily be the means to have it vindicated and a remedy if a person is injured in the exercise of it. However, it does not follow that the breach of every right or statutory provision creates a right of compensation. The courts are willing to […]
Defence Forces The Supreme Court has accepted that post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric illness. The Department of Defence has been held liable for failure to protect military personnel from post-traumatic stress disorder potentially arising from negligent deployment in a combat zone or more likely in failing to recognise warning signs and address and assist persons subject to trauma and […]
Claimant Part Fault Where a claimant is partly at fault, the damages he is entitled to recover are reduced in proportion to his relative fault. This issue arises most commonly in the context of negligence. Contributory negligence may arise between defendants or between the claimant and one or more defendants. The position is regulated by the Civil Liability Act. Prior […]