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The vulnerable subject of negligence law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2012

Carl F. Stychin
Carl F. Stychin*
Affiliation:
University of Reading
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

The approach taken by English courts to the duty of care question in negligence has been subject to harsh criticism in recent years. This article examines this fundamental issue in tort law, drawing upon Canadian and Australian jurisprudence by way of comparison. From this analysis, the concept of vulnerability is developed as a productive means of understanding the duty of care. Vulnerability is of increasing interest in legal and political theory and it is of particular relevance to the law of negligence. In addition to aiding doctrinal coherence, vulnerability – with its focus on relationships and care – has the potential to broaden the way in which the subject of tort law is conceived because it challenges dominant assumptions about autonomy as being prior to the relationships on which it is dependent.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 337 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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