Bolton v Stone

Bolton v Stone AC 850 is a decision of the House of Lords to the English tort law in the field of negligence. The question to be decided was, what requirements are to be made on the likelihood of harm occurring to cause a breach of the duty of care to the liability of the tortfeasor.

Facts and courts

Facts

The plaintiff was hit by a cricket ball while he was standing outside the court of the defendant. The ball had previously traveled a distance of about 100 yards ( about 92 meters) and 17 feet ( about 5 meters) high fence crosses. Similar incidents had occurred in the past thirty years, no more than six times. The plaintiff claimed damages. The defendant defended himself so that his conduct was not negligent, because such an accident was too unlikely that precautions should have been taken.

Decision of the House of Lords

The House of Lords decided on May 10, 1951 against a judgment in favor of the plaintiff. Lord Reid, who wrote the leading judgment, this is justified with the fact that it does not arrive alone on the foreseeability of the damage, but also on whether the damage is sufficiently likely and sufficient is difficult that measured by the objective standard of the reasonable man, there was a need to take precautions.

• Law ( England and Wales)
• 1951
• Case law (England and Wales)