Question:medium

Following is not an essential of tort of negligence

Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • Duty of care on the part of plaintiff
  • Duty of care on the part of defendant
  • Breach of duty
  • Damage to plaintiff
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Negligence has a settled three-part test, and knowing that checklist by heart is the fastest way to spot which listed item does not belong on it.

  1. Duty of care on the part of plaintiff: the standard checklist for negligence never asks whether the plaintiff owed anyone a duty, duty in a negligence claim only ever runs from the defendant toward the plaintiff, so this item sits outside the real checklist entirely.
  2. Duty of care on the part of defendant: this is checklist item one, without a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, there is no foundation for a negligence claim at all.
  3. Breach of duty: this is checklist item two, the defendant's conduct must have fallen short of what that duty demanded.
  4. Damage to plaintiff: this is checklist item three, the breach must have actually caused loss or injury to the plaintiff, without it there is nothing to compensate.

Running through the real three-item checklist for negligence, duty of the defendant, breach, and damage, shows that duty of care on the part of the plaintiff was never on that list to begin with.

The correct answer is Duty of care on the part of plaintiff.

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