Donoghue Case Summary

Case for Assignment 2
INTRODUCTION
Donoghue, a Scottish dispute, is a famous case in English law which was instrumental in shaping the law of tort and the doctrine of negligence in particular.

FACTS OF THE CASE
On August 26 1928, Mrs. Donoghue 's friend bought her a ginger-beer from Well meadow Café1 in Paisley. She consumed about half of the bottle, which was made of dark opaque glass, when the remainder of the contents was poured into a tumbler. At this point, the decomposed remains of a snail floated out causing her alleged shock and severe gastro-enteritis.

Mrs. Donoghue was not able to claim through breach of warranty of a contract: she was not party to any contract. Therefore, she issued proceedings against Stevenson, the manufacture, which snaked its way up to the House of Lords.

ISSUES
The

. . it would appear to be reasonable and equitable to hold that, in the circumstances and apart altogether from contract, there exists a relationship of duty as between the maker and the consumer of the beer. '9 Thus, the doctrine is based in law and morality. The impact of Donoghue on tort law cannot be understated; it was a watershed moment effectively establishing tort as separate from contract law.

However, it is important to remember that Donoghue was a milestone in a new principle which needed refining, as Lord Reid said, '. . . the well-known passage in Lord Atkin 's speech should, I think, be regarded as a statement of principle. It is not to be treated as if it were a statutory definition. It will require qualification in new circumstances. '10

The next major development in the 'neighbor principle ' came from Hedley Byrne v Heller11 which concerned economic loss. However, the locus classics of the 'neighbor test ' is found in another economic loss case called Caparo Industries v