Introduction to Australian Legal System: A Negligence Case Study

This case study delves into the concept of negligence within the Australian legal system, specifically focusing on its application through tort law. It begins by defining the purpose of civil law and the meaning of tort law, highlighting negligence as a critical component. The elements required to establish negligence, including duty of care, breach of duty, and direct loss, are discussed with reference to landmark cases like Donoghue v Stevenson and Grant v Australian Knitting Mills. The study then analyzes two media articles, one involving a footballer's injury and another concerning a customer's fall in a supermarket, examining the potential liability of the defendants in each scenario. The implications of holding defendants liable are explored, emphasizing the importance of awareness and responsibility among sports organizers and retail sectors. The study concludes by reiterating the need for proving all elements of negligence to establish liability and the role of civil law in protecting citizens' rights. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments for students.

Running Head: BUSINESS AND CORPORATION LAW 0
Introduction to Australian Legal System
1/24/2019
Student’s Name
Student ID
Word Count 1150
Couse Name
Date of Submission

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................2
Question 3........................................................................................................................................3
Question 4........................................................................................................................................3
Question 5........................................................................................................................................4
Question 6........................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
2
Introduction
Civil Law is important part of the legal system of every country. Further Tor Law is one of
significant type of civil law. In the presented report the, purpose of civil law; meaning of tort law
and elements of negligence under tort will be described. Further, discussion will be developed on
one of the media article related to the case study of negligence.
Question 1
Purpose of Civil Law:- This law has been developed to provide protection to citizens. Civil law
is that where a person can initiate an action against another person (Legaldictionary.net, 2019).
In such a manner, this can be stated that the main objective of civil law is to resolve the legal
conflicts and fights among citizens. This law prevents the undesirable behavior and punishes
them who do an act, which does not seem to be desirable by the society. The objective of civil
law are summarized as below_
 Establishing Standards
 Marinating order
 Resolving disputes and
 Protecting right and liabilities
Question 2
Tort Law: Before understanding the Tort Law, first the meaning of tort is necessary to know. In
general, Tort can be understood as a civil wrong. It is a concept derived from common law. Torts
are the grounds for filing a lawsuit in civil law. Tort Law is the relevant area of law, which

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
3
provides protection to people from the bad and wrong act of others (Miller and Meinzinger,
2016). Whenever a person commits a tort (civil wrong), the same becomes liable to breach the
civil law (Legalcareerpath.com, 2019).
Question 3
Negligence is an important kind of tort. This is a situation where a person fails to act like a
reasonable person (Law.jrank.org, 2019). It means when a person fails to perform his/her duty of
care with respect to others then negligence occurs. Nevertheless, this is to mention that breach of
the duty of care is not enough to establish a claim of negligence but certain other elements are
also required to be there which are mentioned as hereunder:-
 There must be a duty of care
 The defendant must breach the duty of care
 There must be a direct loss to the plaintiff
It was held in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100 that to establish a duty of
care there must be a relationship of proximity between the defendant and claimant (Harpwood,
2009). Further, it was held in the case of Grant v Australian Knitting Mills HCA 35, (1933)
50 CLR 387 that to establish a duty of care, risk must be foreseeable.
Question 4
Article: Close case set to present a legal headache for the AFL
In the given article, footballer Michael Close is the plaintiff and the same has made the allegation
in against of three different people. It means in total there were three defendants namely
Brisbane Lions, AFL, and Etihad Stadium. The other possible claimants in the case are

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
4
Collingwood player Darcy Moore and Geelong’s Daniel Menzel. These are the players who have
faced the similar issue that close experienced.
Question 5
Article:-1 Close case set to present a legal headache for the AFL
As stated above three defendants were there. They all three seems to have a duty of care in
respect to Close. Firstly his employer Brisbane Lions football team owes a duty of care as
applying the provisions of Donoghue v Stevenson and other rules of Tort Law, the same had a
proximate relationship with close. Further, the same breached the duty of care, as the same had a
liability to provide a safe working situation for its employees (players). However, applying the
provisions of Grant v Australian Knitting Mills HCA that risk was not foreseeable for the
employer as the same was not aware of the true situation of playground surface.
Another defendant is Etihad stadium as the owner. Here the stadium owners also owed the duty
of care regarding close because of the existence of a relationship of proximity. Being the stadium
owner, they might be aware of the standard nature of the surface, but they failed to do so.
Because of the negligence of stadium owner close suffered from the injury. However, in the
defense, the stadium owner can make the AFL liable to approve the synthetic turf and stadium
was following the instruction of the organizers.
The third and the last defendant of the case is AFL, which was the organizer of the match. Being
the organizer, AFL owed a duty of care towards players of every team. The same breached the
duty of care by approving the dangerous surface of the stadium. Because of the negligence of
AFL, Close suffered from the injury. It was a direct result of this negligence. AFL seems to be a
most liable defendant in the case. The risk was foreseeable to the same. In addition to this, the

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
5
surface of Etihad stadium was not similar to other stadiums of AFL. Being a citizen from
Victoria state, close can win the situation against AFL as all the elements of negligence are there.
Article 2:- Woolworths wins appeal over $150,000 stray grape in Leichhardt store
In this case, the only defendant was Woolworth and plaintiff was a customer named Colleen
McQuillan. Woolworth owed a duty of care in the case as the same was in a proximate
relationship with its customers. Further, the same has breached the duty of care as staff left the
grape on the floor. At last, because of the negligence of supermarket, the plaintiff fell down and
suffered from an injury. Here three of the elements of negligence likely to be established against
the defendant. Nevertheless the same can give it is a defense that it is not possible to check every
small particle on the floor and staff was continuously doing its duty.
Question 6
Article 1
If the defendant would be held liable for the breach then all the organizers of sports tournament
and events will be more aware of their liability. AFL in the case is one of the key defendants and
owed the duty of care towards the players. Being the football club and the organizer, AFL had
the whole sole responsibility to manage everything in respect to the subjective football matches.
Many of the sports clubs are there which are used to organize the different events. Further, the
cases of injuries during play are being regular these days. If AFL would be held liable in the
studied case then other clubs will get an idea about the potential liability and will become more
responsible for the safety of players.

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
6
Article 2
Here, if the Woolworth would be held liable then supermarkets will understand their
responsibility in a more clear way. The retail sectors would have an idea that only cleanliness is
not enough but the staff should also ensure the safety of the visitors of the store.
Conclusion
This is to conclude that three elements need to be there in order to prove negligence. Further,
whenever a person held liable for the negligence, the same has to pay the damages to other party.
In such a manner civil law protects the right of citizens.

INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
7
References
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100
Grant v Australian Knitting Mills HCA 35, (1933) 50 CLR 387
Harpwood, V.H., (2009) Modern Tort Law 7/e. Oxon: Routledge.
Law.jrank.org. (2019) Negligence - The Reasonable Person. [online] Available
from:http://law.jrank.org/pages/8780/Negligence-Reasonable-Person.html [Accessed on
27/01/2019]
Legalcareerpath.com. (2019) What is Tort Law? [online] Available
from:https://legalcareerpath.com/tort-law/ [Accessed on 27/01/2019]
Legaldictionary.net. (2019) Civil Law. [online] Available from: https://legaldictionary.net/civil-
law/ [Accessed on 27/01/2019]
Miller, R., L. and Meinzinger, M. (2016) Paralegal Today: The Legal Team at Work.
USA:Cengage Learning.