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Tort of Negligence
A tort can be defined as civil wrong which is not a breach of contract i.e. committed against an individual, it is apparent from this definition that there is a distinction between contract and tort. A tortious liability is not undertaken voluntarily by the courts leaving the defendant or/party no option but to accept. A tort doesn’t arise as a result of a bargain but as a consequence of committing a tort. Contractual liability is usually strict but that arising out of a tort is always ALMOST based on fault. The tort of negligence by far is the most important tort as its widely defined and can be committed in the multitude of ways, compared to other torts that apply in more limited circumstances. In order to establish a tort of negligence the plaintiff must establish three things on a balance of probabilities: -
*The defendant owed a duty of care
*Defendant breached the duty of care
*There was damage or injury
*No defenses
An important distinction that we need to make is for vicarious liability where the employer is vicariously liable for the negligence of the employee, if the employer was negligent during the course of his employment.

Duty of Care – the court will ask two questions to determine liability i.e. proximity and foreseeability, the landmark case that supports this was Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]. The case surrounded where the claimant had a decomposed snail in her ginger beer, which caused her to suffer gastroenteritis, and site of the snail gave the claimant a nervous shock. The claimant couldn’t sue the shot as she had no contract with them but she sued the manufacturer of ginger beer stating that they owed her a duty of care. It was held that manufacturers owed a duty of care to ensure that the customers aren’t injured buying their products. Proximity can arise only where it was foreseeable that harm would be caused to

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