CASE ANALYSIS

Donoghue v Stevenson - Case Analysis

Donoghue v Stevenson - Case Analysis

Introduction

The case Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100 has a dominant role in the history of the English tort law (Steele, 2010). In this case, the House of Lords established a criterion for which shall necessary be pertaining the case so as to call it as a case of negligence. The panel of judges for the case was Lords Atkin, Buckmaster, MacMillion, Thankerton, and Tomlin (Steele, 2010). The judges collectively agreed and determined that the every citizen share the duty of responsibility of other fellow citizen and such duty shall be perceived by the other citizen to be able to do it. The case is important and in one of the distinguished cases that has laid down the essential things to be embedded in the English legal system. The case is also referred as a “Paisley snail" or "snail in the bottle" (Wylie, n.d.). The case was filed in the Court of Sessions which is the highest civil court of law in Scotland.

Background

The case of Donoghue v Stevenson started back on the 26th of August, 1928 when a friend of Donoghue purchased him some drinks from a café located in the Paisley, Renfrewshire.

The café was owned by the Francis Minchella. Donoghue found snail's decomposed carcass in one of the bottles. Subsequently, Donoghue suffered from gastroenteritis as he had already consumed some of the content in that bottle and such suffering was traced back plausibly because of the carcass of the decomposed snail found in the bottle. As a result, Donoghue sued David Stevenson and took help of the legal system to recover the damages for the injuries caused by drinking contents of the bottle manufactured in his company, situated in Paisley. David Stevenson holds a company in Paisley that bottles aerated water at that time. The amount claimed by the Donoghue was £500, as per the documents of the case.

Pre-requisite Concepts

Law of TortsThe etymology of an English word “tort” defines that it is derived from a Latin word “tortus” which means “wrong” (Skwirk.com.au, n.d.). Legal wrongdoings in a civil sense are governed by the Law of torts. Law of tort is made with objectives such as to guard citizens against bodily damages, to ensure protection of one's tangible & intangible properties, and to guard individual's repute. If any individual comprised such things with his or her act, a remedial or punitive action can be derived from the Law of Torts, which is generally in monetary terms.There is a difference between what is said as “criminal law” and “tort law”. The law of tort can be applicable in situations when such an action has a reaction such as monetary-based compensation, and the wrongdoing includes an injury, either physical or verbal, etc. The crime is a wrongdoing to a society i.e. murder or robbery, etc. Remedial action can be chosen by a plaintiff in case of tort law, however in the case of criminal law, it is usually the judge or judicial ...