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Tort: Negligence

The Caparo test and the modern approach

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2

Overview

Facts of Caparo and pure omission.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Explain proximity, the modern approach to a novel duty, and why economic loss and omissions are treated cautiously.

Key term

What were the facts of Caparo v Dickman (1990)?

Key term

What is meant by proximity?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the three elements of the test in Caparo Industries plc v Dickman (1990).

    Model answer

    That the damage was reasonably foreseeable, that there was a relationship of proximity between the parties, and that it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty.

  2. 2

    What were the facts of Caparo?

    Model answer

    Investors relied on audited accounts when buying shares in a company and sued the auditors when the accounts proved inaccurate.

  3. 3

    Why did the claim in Caparo fail?

    Model answer

    The auditors' statutory duty was owed to the shareholders as a body for the purpose of governance, not to investors deciding whether to buy shares.

  4. 4

    What does reasonable foreseeability require?

    Model answer

    That a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have foreseen the risk of harm of that kind to that claimant.

  5. 5

    What is meant by proximity?

    Model answer

    Legal closeness between the parties in relationship, space or time, rather than physical nearness alone.

  6. 6

    What work does the third limb of Caparo do?

    Model answer

    It allows the court to withhold a duty on policy grounds even where foreseeability and proximity are made out.

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AThe defendant owed the victim a duty of care and breached it.
BThe breach carried a reasonably foreseeable risk of death.
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