Donoghue v Stevenson

[1932] AC 562 · [1932] UKHL 100

House of Lords · 1932

Good law

Headnote

Founded the modern law of negligence with the neighbour principle: a manufacturer owes a duty of care to the ultimate consumer of its product.

Bench

Lord Buckmaster, Lord Atkin, Lord Tomlin, Lord Thankerton, Lord Macmillan

Facts

Mrs Donoghue drank ginger beer bought for her by a friend; a decomposed snail was in the opaque bottle. She had no contract with the manufacturer.

Held

A duty of care exists independently of contract. Lord Atkin's neighbour principle governs when such a duty arises.

Key passage

“You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.”

[1932] AC 562, 580 (Lord Atkin)

Citation formats

OSCOLA

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580.

Neutral

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100.

Short form

Donoghue (n 1) 580.