Donoghue v. Stevenson

Donoghue v. Stevenson, [ 1932 ] A.C. 532, is a famous House of Lords case in the area of torts. It is perhaps most well known for the statement of Lord Aitkins regarding the existence of duty in English law.

The Facts

"On August 26, 1928, the appellant drank a bottle of ginger-beer, manufactured by the respondent, which a friend had bought from a retailer and given to her. The bottle contained the decomposed remains of a snail which were not, and could not be, detected until the greater part of the contents of the bottle had been consumed. As a result she alleged, and at this stage her allegations must be accepted as true, that she suffered from shock and severe gastro-enteritis. She accordingly instituted the proceedings against the manufacturer which have given rise to this appeal."

— from the judgment

Lord Atikins statement

Lord Atikin's statement about the foreseeability of the effects of one's acts on one's neighbours is central to the existence of a duty of care in the law of torts, especially in the area of negligence.

There must be, and is, some general conception of relations giving rise to a duty of care, of which the particular cases found in the books are but instances. ... The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question: Who is my neighbour? receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law, is my neighbour? The answer seems to be — persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as long as so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions that are called in question.