Duty of Care in United Kingdom
Definition of Duty of Care
In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Duty of Care : The legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing damage. There is no liability in tort for *negligence unless the act or omission that causes damage is a breach of a duty of care owed to the claimant. There is a duty to take care in most situations in which one can reasonably foresee that one’s actions may cause physical damage to the person or property of others. The duty is owed to those people likely to be affected by the conduct in question. Thus doctors have a duty of care to their patients and users of the highway have a duty of care to all other road users. But there is no general duty to prevent other persons causing damage or to rescue persons or property in danger, liability for careless words is more limited than liability for careless acts, and there is no general duty not to cause economic loss or psychiatric illness. In these and some other situations, the existence and scope of the duty of care depends on all the circumstances of the relationship between the parties. Most duties of care are the result of judicial decisions, but some are contained in statutes, such as the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (See occupier’s liability).
Duty of Care Defined & Explained Case Law
- A selected English Real Property Law Case in relation with duty of care defined & explained may be: Scullion v Bank of Scotland (t/a Colleys)
- Year of the above case: 2011
Duty of Care/Negligence Case Law
- A selected English Real Property Law Case in relation with duty of care/negligence may be: Drysdale v Hedges [2012] EWHC B20, (2012) 162 NLJ 1056
- Year of the above case: 2012