- contributory negligence
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contributory negligence see negligence
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- contributory negligence
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lack of care by a plaintiff for his own safety. (In the USA the term comparative negligence is sometimes used.) Before the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, negligence on the part of the party suing was a complete defence, however insignificant it was in the whole picture. The Act allowed a proportion of the damages to be reduced to reflect the plaintiff's fault.In England it applies to certain contractual claims: Forsikringsak-tieselskapet Vesta v. Butcher [1986] 2 All ER 488.In Canada it has been accepted as a defence to a negligent misstatement case: Grand Restaurants of Canada Ltd v . Toronto (1981) 123 DLR (3d) 349. Children can be held to be contributorily negligent.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
- contributory negligence
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A doctrine of common law that if a person's own negligence contributes to causing an accident in which that person is injured, the injured party can't collect any damages (money) from another party who caused the accident. Because this doctrine often ended in unfair results (where a person only slightly negligent was prohibited from recovering damages from a person who was much more so), most states now use a comparative negligence test instead, in which the relative percentages of negligence by each person are used to determine how much the injured person recovers.Category: Accidents & InjuriesCategory: Representing Yourself in CourtCategory: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
- contributory negligence
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A defence established where it is proved that the loss suffered by the claimant is due partly to the fault of the claimant. The Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 provides for apportionment of loss where a claimant has suffered loss as the result partly of his own fault and partly of the fault of any other person (section 1). "Fault" is defined in the Act as "negligence or other act or omission which gives rise to liability in tort or would, apart from this Act, give rise to the defence of contributory negligence" (section 4). A claim for damages will be reduced to such extent as the court thinks just and equitable having regard to the claimant's share in responsibility for the damage. The Act was designed for the tort of negligence but can be applied to cases of contractual breaches where the defendant's liability in contract is the same as his liability in negligence.Related links
Practical Law Dictionary. Glossary of UK, US and international legal terms. www.practicallaw.com. 2010.
- contributory negligence
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The rule of law under which an act or omission of plaintiff is a contributing cause of injury and a bar to recovery.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
- contributory negligence
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n.a doctrine of common law that if a person was injured in part due to his/her own negligence (his/her negligence "contributed" to the accident), the injured party would not be entitled to collect any damages (money) from another party who supposedly caused the accident. Under this rule, a badly injured person who was only slightly negligent could not win in court against a very negligent defendant. If Joe Tosspot was driving drunk and speeding and Angela Comfort was going 25 m.p.h. but six inches over the center-line, most likely Angela would be precluded from any recovery (receiving any money for injuries or damages) from a car crash. The possible unfair results have led some juries to ignore the rule and, in the past few decades, most states have adopted a comparative negligence test in which the relative percentages of negligence by each person are used to determine damage recovery (how much money would be paid to the injured person).
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
