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Chapter 4: Damage: factual causation and scope of liability

Chapter 4: Damage: factual causation and scope of liability

pp. 174-223

Authors

, Monash University, Victoria, , RMIT, , La Trobe University, Victoria, , The Open University, Milton Keynes, , University of Southern Queensland, , Deakin University, Victoria, , La Trobe University, Victoria, , University of Wollongong, New South Wales
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Extract

As we have already seen, there are three basic elements to a successful action in negligence:

  1. (1) a duty to take reasonable care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff

  2. (2) a breach of that duty of care by the defendant

  3. (3) damage resulting to the plaintiff from that breach.

This chapter deals with the third element. This stage involves taking (yet again) three steps:

  1. (1) Identify the damage having an adverse effect on the plaintiff to be recognised by law as damage for which compensation can be sought.

  2. (2) Link the defendant’s conduct (act or omission) to the damage suffered by the plaintiff.

  3. (3) Establish the scope of the defendant’s liability or, putting it differently, establish the extent to which the defendant should be found liable for the harm suffered by the plaintiff OR the type of harm suffered was within the scope of foreseeability.

Keywords

  • tort law
  • Australia
  • wrongs
  • tort
  • damage
  • causation
  • scope of liability
  • factual causation
  • reasonable foreseeability

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