Negligence is the most important tort in modern law. A claimant must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and the breach caused reasonably foreseeable damage.
Common law; Civil Procedure Act, Cap 71
Established the modern law of negligence and the neighbour principle: you owe a duty of care to persons closely and directly affected by your acts.
Established the three-stage test for duty of care: foreseeability, proximity, and whether it is fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty.
In road traffic accident claims (common in Uganda), negligence must be established through evidence of breach of the Highway Code or driving standards.
Apply the three elements sequentially: duty, breach, causation/damage. If there is no duty, the claim fails — do not proceed to analyse breach.
