Common law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Common law - Essay Example Wirral Utilities has dug a trench along the pavement and so as to prevent anybody falling in the trench, placed at one end a long handed hammer and at the other some picks and shovels. One end of the hammer lay on the pavement, and the other was hooked on to some railings. These precautions would have been sufficient for the public at large who used the pavement, but the claimant was special, in that he was blind. While walking to his work along the pavement as usual, he had a fall because he tripped over the end of the hammer lying on the pavement. Normal people would have seen the danger, but the claimant did not. He was himself not negligent. His white stick had passed over the hammer. As a result of the fall, he banged his head against the pavement. In the resultant injury, he became deaf and had to retire early from the job. The claimant has sued Wirral Utilities for the tort of negligence. The case is founded on four scenarios or likely turns of event. First is whether Wirral Utilities owed any duty of care to the public at large who utilized the pavement. The next question is whether Wirral utilities breached that duty owed to the claimant. It is the third point to be considered whether the damage to the claimant i.e. the injury caused to him arising from such negligence was foreseeable by a party in a position as Wirral utilities. Ultimately the essay will address the possible defences that Wirral utilities may have against the action brought by the claimant. People have rights in law apart from those arising out of contract. These rights can be enforced by the injured party. When these rights are infringed by somebody out of which the person is injured, and a damage results out of that injury, the party whose act or omission led to the tort is liable to the person aggrieved. Law imposes a duty upon everybody to take care that no one suffers as a result of his act or omission. Thus, in law, a person is duty bound to keep his dog on a