Negligence as a tort is defined as a breach of the legal duty of care which causes harm to the claimant. It has been held that, to enforce liability and succeed in a negligence action, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant owes him a duty of care, that that duty has been breached and that he has suffered damage or a loss that falls within the scope of liability. duty. However, the question of whether a breach of duty of care has occurred involves two elements: how much care is required (in other words; the standard of care) and whether that care has been exercised. It is worth mentioning that the standard of care in cases of negligence is objective, as held in the case of Nettleship v Watson, where the conduct of the defendant was examined. The situation, however, was not so clear. Under the Caparo test, courts will take this into account when determining duty of care; foreseeability of harm, proximity and whether imposing a duty would be fair, just and reasonable. Relatively, it can be said that section 1 of the Compensation Acts 2006 revolves around similar principles to those mentioned in the Caparo test. Indeed, courts are invited under section 1 (but not required) to consider the impact of decisions they make on the standard of care. Furthermore, in deciding whether the defendant has taken the necessary steps to meet the standard of care, courts are asked to examine whether such steps would prevent the carrying out of desirable activities and discourage persons from undertaking functions in relation to such activity. The question arises here, however, as to whether judges had such discretion before the law in deciding the standard of care. The answer is found in the explanatory notes to the law, which state...... half of the document ......ckman [1990] 2 ACMiller v. Jackson [1977] QB 966, CARobinson v Post Office [1974] 1 WLR 1176Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty, The Wagon Mound (No 2 ) [1967] 1 AC 617Nettleship v Weston [1971] 2 QBMcHale v Watson [1966] CLR 199Bolton v Stone [1951] AC 850, HLDonoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Website End of Compensation Culture - Blair accessed 7 January 2011 Compensation Culture accessed 7 January 2011 (Claire Mckenney), "Questioning theclaims culture" (2004) accessed 7 January 2011 Compensation Act 2006 Explanatory Notes accessed 7 January 2011