Donoghue v Stevenson is a 1932 decision of the House of Lords, then the United Kingdom highest court of appeal, that established the modern law of negligence across common law jurisdictions. It arose after May Donoghue became ill after drinking ginger beer that allegedly contained a decomposed snail, bought for her by a friend, meaning she had no contract with the manufacturer and so, under the law as it then stood, no clear route to a remedy. Lord Atkin opinion articulated the neighbour principle, that a person owes a duty of care to anyone who could reasonably be foreseen as affected by their acts or omissions, laying the foundation for the modern tort of negligence.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingA manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of its product where it is reasonably foreseeable that a lack of care will cause injury, the 'neighbour principle' that established the modern law of negligence. 1 Current StatusControlling precedent since 1932 throughout the common law world; established the modern tort of negligence and has not been overruled. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category) Case Status (category)Overruled (in whole or part) 1 Case Status (category) Connections
Decided By
Source Donoghue v Stevenson (Wikipedia)
Established
Source The Oxford Handbook of Comparative LawMathias Reimann and Reinhard Zimmermann, editors
In Legal System
Source Major Legal Systems in the World TodayRene David and John E.C. Brierley
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Wikidata: Donoghue v Stevenson
Sources
1. Donoghue v Stevenson (Wikipedia)
Judgment section
The House of Lords gave judgment on 26 May 1932 after an unusually long delay of over five months since the hearing.
Wikipedia 'Judgment' section, date given
The House of Lords gave judgment on 26 May 1932 after an unusually long delay of over five months since the hearing.
Wikipedia 'Judgment' section, Lord Atkin's neighbour principle
You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour
Wikipedia 'Judgment' section, neighbour-principle framing
requiring a duty of care for negligence to be found and explained his general neighbour principle on when that duty of care arises
Black's Law Dictionary
Bryan A. Garner, editor; founded by Henry Campbell Black, Thomson Reuters, 2019
Wikidata: Donoghue v Stevenson
Wikidata Q5296782, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Major Legal Systems in the World Today
Rene David and John E.C. Brierley, Stevens and Sons, 1985In Legal System: Common Law
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law
Mathias Reimann and Reinhard Zimmermann, editors, Oxford University Press, 2006Established: Negligence and the Duty of Care
Donoghue v Stevenson (Wikipedia)
- Decided By: Judicial functions of the House of Lords, Infobox court field: Judicial functions of the House of Lords
In Group: Negligence and Strict Liability Tort Cases, Introduction, sentence 2
It laid the foundation of the modern law of negligence in common law jurisdictions worldwide, as well as in Scotland, establishing general principles of the duty of care.
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