B. What must the plaintiff prove?
To establish negligence, the plaintiff must prove, on the balance of probabilities, 5 essential elements.
First, the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care. This means the defendant was under a legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to the plaintiff (“Duty of care”).
Second, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached that duty by failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would have acted in the same or similar circumstances. The court will assess the defendant’s conduct objectively, having regard to the nature of the risk and the precautions that could reasonably have been taken (“Breach of duty”).
Third, the plaintiff must establish causation. This requires proof that the defendant’s breach of duty caused the plaintiff’s injury or loss. In other words, the harm would not have occurred but for the defendant’s negligent act or omission, and there must have been no break in the chain of causation—that is, no later intervening act or event sufficient to displace the defendant’s responsibility for the harm (“Causation”).
Fourth, the plaintiff must prove that the damage was not too remote. It must be shown that the kind of harm suffered was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s breach, so that legal responsibility should attach to that harm (“Remoteness of damage”).
Finally, the plaintiff must prove actual damage. Negligence is not actionable without compensable harm. The plaintiff must show that he suffered a recognised injury, loss, or damage as a result of the defendant’s conduct (“Damage”).
