AQA

The Duty of Care is the first essential element of a negligence claim. It establishes a legal relationship between the defendant and the claimant, requiring the defendant to act with reasonable care to avoid causing harm. In A-Level Law, you must distinguish between "established duties" (where the law already recognizes a relationship) and "novel situations" (where the court must decide if a duty should exist).

In Tort Law, Damages are the primary remedy aimed at restitution—putting the claimant back in the position they would have been in had the tort not occurred (Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co). Unlike criminal fines, damages are compensatory, not punitive. The court divides damages into two main categories: Special Damages (calculable losses up to the date of trial) and General Damages (speculative losses looking into the future).

In the law of Tort, Breach of Duty is the second element of the negligence test (Duty, Breach, Damage). It occurs when a defendant fails to act as a "reasonable person" would have in the same situation. This is an objective test, meaning the court does not care if the defendant did their "best"; they care if the defendant reached the standard of a competent person performing that task.

In general tort law (including Negligence and Private Nuisance), defendants can rely on several "General Defences." These are distinct from the specific statutory protections found in Occupiers' Liability, though they share the same underlying legal logic.

In Occupiers' Liability (governed by the 1957 Act for lawful visitors and the 1984 Act for trespassers), a defendant can avoid or reduce their liability by using several specific defences. Because this is a branch of negligence, the standard "tort" defences apply, but they have unique statutory twists.

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In Contract Law, not all terms are created equal. The classification of a term determines the remedy available to the innocent party if that term is broken. Under the traditional "two-part" classification, terms are either Conditions or Warranties, but modern law also recognizes Innominate Terms.

In A-Level Law, Contract Law moves away from the "guilty mind" of criminal law and focuses on the enforceability of agreements. For a contract to be legally binding—rather than just a social promise—it must satisfy three core pillars: Offer and Acceptance (the agreement), Consideration (the "price" paid), and Intention to Create Legal Relations. If any of these are missing, the "contract" is void, and the courts will not intervene if one party fails to deliver.

Loss of Control is the second statutory partial defence to murder, introduced by Sections 54 and 55 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. It replaced the old common law defence of "provocation." Like Diminished Responsibility, if successful, it reduces a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, allowing for sentencing flexibility.

Diminished Responsibility is a statutory partial defence to murder, governed by Section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957 (as amended by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009). If successfully pleaded, it reduces a conviction from murder to voluntary manslaughter. This gives the judge sentencing discretion, allowing them to avoid the mandatory life sentence and instead impose a punishment that reflects the defendant's mental state, such as a hospital order.