neighbour principle
A principle developed by Lord Atkin in the famous case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL Sc) (Snail in the Bottle case) to establish when a duty of care might arise. The principle is that one must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that could reasonably be foreseen as likely to injure one’s neighbour. A neighbour was identified as someone who was so closely and directly affected by the act that one ought to have them in contemplation as being so affected when directing one’s mind to the acts or omissions in question. |