Question

Question 1 (a) Identify and explain the FOUR (4) elements to establish an action in negligence. (15 marks) (b) Demonstrate with an example in respect of ONE (1) of the four elements referred to above. (10 marks)

Answer 1

a)

The four elements of negligence are

• Duty
• Breach
• Cause
• Harm

Duty refers to the responsibility and accountability of the defendant to the plaintiff. It signifies that the defendant had a responsibility to be careful and make sure that the plaintiff did not suffer any damages/injuries.

Breach refers to the breach of duty. Merely establishing duty towards the plaintiff is not sufficient but in order to establish a negligent action, the plaintiff must be able to prove that there was a duty of care and the duty was breached by the defendant.

Cause is the next step. Whenever there is a lawsuit or a case, it is often because the plaintiff suffered injuries or damages. There should be a cause for a valid negligence suit. This means the defendant should have breached his/her duty and that should be the cause for the injury or harm.

Harm is the damage or the injury suffered by the plaintiff. In case there is a duty, breach and cause but no harms has been done then there is no legal ramification. The plaintiff should have suffered harm due to the breach of duty by the defendant.

b)

Let’s take an example of a person walking on the pavement by the road side in the winter. The pavement has slippery ice and he fell down. In doing so, he broke his wrist while trying to support himself. As a result he could not work for 3 weeks and lost his pay.

In this case the owner of the house (whose pavement was slippery) had the duty to keep the pavement safe for the pedestrians. He did not and this is a breach of duty. The result of this duty is that people got hurt. Thus the cause of the injury is established and since there has been harm to the pedestrian, a clear case of negligence is established.

In these, if any of the steps were missed then a case for negligence could not be established. For example, the pedestrian fell down but did not get hurt. This would not be a valid negligence case.