TORT 1.12A NEGLIGENCE (INTRODUCTION)
THE TORT OF NEGLIGENCE
Negligence is a dynamic tort stemming from the period of industrial revolution. The growth of commercial activities in Nigeria necessitated its growth. The decision in Donoghue V . Stevenson was the first major attempt at streamlining the tort of negligence. Over the years the courts have been faced with the task of streamlining and panel-beating the principles formulated in Donoghue V Stephenson leaving each case to be a question of both law and fact.
In a layman’s language, negligence ordinarily means carelessness or irresponsibility. Negligence may be seen to mean the doing or failing to do what a reasonable man in one’s position would not do or omit respectively.
In law, the tort of negligence is more sophisticated, it consists of three elements namely;
- A duty of care imposed by law on the defendant
- A breach of the duty by the defendant
- Damage resulting from the breach
See UTB V . Ozoemena, Ngilari V . Mothercat.
In the subsequent lessons, we shall be explaining each of these pillars one by one.