Negligence and the Rise of Product Liability

Abstract

Introduction This chapter looks at the development of tort law and its application to product-related injuries. Thus, it considers both the tort of negligence and the policy lying behind the development of strict liability. The chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 considers the background to the development of the law of negligence and strict liability and the relationship between the two legal regimes. Section 3 considers the development of the law of negligence and introduces the essential elements of the tort, namely, (i) the duty of care as enunciated in Donoghue v. Stevenson , which laid down that the manufacturer of a product owes a duty of care in respect of that product; (ii) the persons to whom the duty is owed as identified through the ‘neighbour principle’ as laid down by Lord Atkin in Donoghue v. Stevenson ; (iii) the standard of care owed by the manufacturer; (iv) the impact of any intermediate inspection; (v) the need to establish a breach of the duty of care; and (vi) the impact of contributory negligence on liability. Section 4 introduces the concept of strict liability and the change in emphasis away from the fault of the manufacturer and towards the defectiveness of the product.