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Essay about Exploring Obligations in a Legal Sense

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Exploring Obligations in a Legal Sense

Negligence in tort has various meanings. It may refer to the tort of negligence or it may refer to careless behaviour. A person who totally disregards the safety of others but does not injure them is not guilty of negligence, although they may be morally reprehensible. On the other hand, the person who tries their best but fall below the standard set by the court and causes any damage will be liable.[1] Negligence is judged by an objective standard set, where the court will look at what a ‘responsible man or woman’ would have done in the defendant’s position. An example of this is in the case of Nettleship v Weston (1971)[2] , the defendant was a learner …show more content…

The defendant’s were held liable in negligence because it was held that a duty of care was owed to him even though the illness he suffered was extremely rare.

Duty is about relationships, and it must be shown that the particular defendant stood in the required relationship to the claimant such that he came under an obligation to use care towards him. This relationship is sometimes referred to as ‘proximity’. In cases of personal injury, the necessary relationship is established if the defendant ought to have foreseen damage to the claimant. Duty means ‘proximity’ in the legal sense, and proximity means the level of closeness of relationship required for the particular kind of damage. Foresight of damage is required in all cases of negligence and there is a policy element, which is expressed by the view that it must be just and reasonable to impose a duty in that class of case.

Prakash does owe a duty of care to Shamilla. He was in breach of his duty towards Shamilla because he was riding his bike despite two days prior he injured his arm whilst riding his bike. Due to his arm injury, he was not able to steer his bicycle correctly and, therefore, he collided with Shamilla. Prakash was expected of what a prudent man or reasonable man would

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