LAW 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Liability Insurance, Internet Service Provider
1 Oct 2017
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As a general rule, the standard of care requires the defendant to act as the reasonable person would act in similar circumstances. As a result of that general rule, it normally is impossible for the defendant to escape liability by proving that, as a result of a mental disability, he was unable to meet the usual standard. However, an exception to that rule applies if the defendant suffered from a metal illness that was so severe as to deprive him of the ability to control his actions. Historically, the plaintiff could succeed in an action for negligence only if the facts fell within a previously recognized category (eg physician-patient, innkeeper-traveler, railway-passenger). Stevenson, however, lord atkin drew the general principle from those categories and held that the plaintiff could succeed if it satisfied the neighbour principle. Earlier cases indicated that the victim of a defective product could recover compensatory damages only if it contractually purchased the item.
