Duty of Care

Nuisance, is concerned with conditions or activities which unduly, interfere with the use or enjoyment of land. In respect to negligence, the foundation of the modem law, appears to be the pronouncement of Lord Atkin, in the case of Donoghue also cited in the appellant's brief thus:
"...Who then is my neighbour? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by any act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the act or omissions which are called into question."
The duty of care so stated, is said to be based on the existence of a danger of physical injury to persons or property. It seems there is no general liability in tort, for pecuniary loss dissociated from physical damages. As the existence of a duty of care will ultimately depend on the facts of each case, then, it seems that there can be no precise exposition of the current scope of the modem concept of a duty of care in negligence.

A person who carries on himself or causes to be carried on by his servants, agents or independent contractors any operation which involves the creation of fire is under a duty to see that the fire is harmless to third parties. But a man could not prevent a fire about which he knew nothing of, or which he could not have known of even with reasonable care.
In the same way, a person who is not responsible for causing the act which is the foundation for an action in nuisance could not be liable to a third party.

"... the position has now been reached that in order to establish that a duty of care arises in a particular situation, it is not necessary to bring the facts of that situation within those of previous situations in which a duty of care has been held to exist. First one has to ask as between the alleged wrong doer and the person who has suffered damage if there is a relationship of proximity or neigbourhood that in the reasonable contemplation of the former, carelessness on his part may be likely to cause damage to the later in which case a prima facie duty of care arises."