SOSC 1375 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Reasonable Person, Situation Two, Mens Rea
4 Aug 2015
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Document Summary
Derived from a latin word meaning a wrong". Most of our criminal law was once tort law. Dates back to a time when courts first saw the need to remedy a wrong. Courts have to balance individual freedom and injury when deciding negligence cases. An english tort case concepts of the reasonable person were first elaborated by judges. Duty of care: right duty relationship in tort law. Duty is owed to the injured party - this duty must be violated by an act or an omission. Concept of foreseeability: a difficult concept for court to apply without some sort of a standard. Reasonable person: a mythical person used as a bench mark" by the courts. Courts measured the actions of the negligent person against what might be the actions of the reasonable person in the same situation. People are found liable in negligence more often for their acts than omissions.
