Tort Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tort Law - Essay Example In this case the appellant had suffered damage as a result of a snail in her ginger beer bottle and she brought a claim against the manufacturer for damages. It was held in this case that even though the appellant had not bought the ginger beer and therefore had no rights under the law of contract, she could successfully pursue a claim against the manufacturer in the law of tort. Lord Atkin asserted that a manufacturer owed a legal duty of care to the ultimate consumer of his product. In discussing duty of care as a legal concept, Lord Atkin established the â€Å"neighbour† principle†2. Lord Atkins went on to define the term â€Å"neighbour† in the legal sense as being â€Å"persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought to reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called into question.3† All the same, there are limitations to the application of duty of care principle. For instance, in the case of Dorset Yacht Co Limited v Home Office4 Lord Reid opined that â€Å"Donoghue v Stevenson may be a milestone†¦but it is not to be treated as if it were a statutory definition. It will require qualification in certain circumstances†5. The development of a test for establishing a legal duty of care in tort has been gradual. In Caparo v Dickman6, the House of Lords specified a three stage test to determine the absence or existence of a duty of care. The different states in this test are first, whether the consequences of the defendant’s actions were reasonably foreseeable. Second, whether there was sufficient proximity to impose a duty of care; and lastly, whether it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care. In applying this test to the appellant’s position, it must first and foremost be established, whether the respondent could have been