The Principle of 'Duty of Care'

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in England, the principle of 'duty of care' is an essential ingredient in torts and imposes liability on persons who breach the same in a contract under the tort law. The author points out that 'duty of care' stands as one of the most basic foundations of this law and is unavoidable. The paper then elaborates and throws light on what exactly the principle means and holds, and enumerates various instances where a standard degree of duty or care is expected to be adhered to.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Hypothesis
General Instances of Duty and Care
Duty of Care and Product Liability
Changing Perspective with regard to Product Liability
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Suppliers of goods, both retailers and wholesalers have been held accountable when their function exceeded the purview of mere distribution. For example, a car dealer selling vehicles reconditioned by him (Herschtal vs. Stewart and Ardern Ltd. [1940 1 KB 155]), a retail chemist (Kubach vs. Hollands [1937] 3 All ER 907) who failed to examine the manufacturer's directives to test the product before labeling it, were both found to be liable to injured customers. The term 'products' would include not only food and drink, but any product which is used for domestic purposes."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Justice Singh G.P, Ratanlal and Dhirajlal on The Law of Torts, 23rd Edition, Rep. 1999, Wadhwa & Company, Nagpur.
• Gandhi B.M., Law of Torts (with Law of Statutory Compensation & Consumer Protection), 3rd Edition, 2006, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow.
• Kidner Richard, Casebook on Torts, 4th Edition, 1996, Blackstone Press Ltd., London, Great Britain.
• Iyer Ramaswamy, The Law of Torts, 7th Edition, 1975, Tripathi.
• Dias R.W.M., B.S.Markesinis, Tort Law, 2nd Edition, 1992, Clarendon Press, Oxford, US.

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