IntroductionThe tort of negligence was established by the House of Lords in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]. In this case the claimantÃÂs friend ordered a bottle of ginger beer for the claimant. The ginger beer was contained in an opaque bottle. Having drunk some of the ginger beer, the claimant poured the remainder into her glass. As she did so, the remains of a decomposed snail fell out. The claimant became ill and sued the manufacturer of the ginger beer. The House of Lords held that manufacturers owe a duty of care to the consumers of their products and that a consumer can sue a manufacturer if he or she is harmed or injured due to the manufacturerÃÂs negligence. In order to make a successful claim under the tort of negligence the claimant must therefore establish three things. Firstly, that the defendant owed the claimant a duty of care. Secondly, that the defendant breached the duty i.e.
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English: Notice excluding duty of care to farm vis...
English: Welcome to Kettles Lane The Notice states...he or she was negligent Finally, the claimant must establish that he or she suffered loss or harm as a result of the negligence.
An individual that has suffered harm as a consequence of the negligence of a public servant e.g. the police, the fire service, the ambulance service etc. will not succeed under the tort of negligence unless the public servant owed the claimant a duty of care. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the extent to which public servants owe a duty of care to members of the public.
The Duty of CareIn Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] Lord Atkin explained that ÃÂyou must take reasonable care to avoid acts and omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbourÃÂ (Macintyre 2005 pg. 347). He defined the term ÃÂneighbourÃÂ as persons closely and directly affected by your...