Negligence is a common law tort concerned with the protection of person, property and economic interests from harm caused by another person's unintentional (but possibly deliberate) failure to take care.

Negligence is a common law tort concerned with the protection of person, property and economic interests from damage caused by another person's failure to take care.

The elements of an action in negligence are:

  1. A duty of care - a duty owed by one person to another and based on the particular relationship, in fact, between two parties and between the defendant and the relevant, foreseeable risk of injury.
  2. Standard of care - a standard imposed by law which requires conformity with a certain standard of conduct for protection of others against unreasonable risks.
  3. Damage - a failure to conform to the required standard of conduct resulting in actual damage to the person to whom the duty of care was owed. The damage must have been caused or contributed to by a breach of that duty and must also have been a foreseeable consequence of that breach.