On this day — 1867: Lord Atkin is born

Today marks 150 years since the birth of Lord Atkin of Aberdovey, a lawyer of Irish, Welsh and Australian origin who is recognised as one of the greatest jurists of the 20th century.

As a member of the House of Lords, his judgment in the 1932 case of Donoghue v Stevenson, also known as the “snail in the bottle” case, helped to shape the modern law of negligence in the UK and the common law world.

The case concerned a woman, May Donoghue, who found what were alleged to be the remains of a snail in her bottle of ginger beer she consumed in a cafe in Paisley.

She subsequently fell ill and successfully sued the manufacturer, incepting the modern law of negligence.

Lord Atkin, who gave the leading judgment, held that the manufacturer breached a duty of care it owed to Mrs Donoghue as it was reasonably foreseeable that the manufacturer’s failure to ensure the product’s safety would lead to harm being done to consumers.

He based his judgment on the Golden Rule as found in the Gospel of Luke: “The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law ‘You must not injure your neighbour’; and the lawyer’s question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ receives a restricted reply.

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

Product liability expert Professor Richard Goldberg, of Durham Law School, told Irish Legal News: “The case of Donoghue v Stevenson is a landmark decision as it lays down criteria for the existence of a general duty of care in the law of negligence and a specific duty of care owed by manufacturers of products to ultimate consumers.

“Lord Atkin’s general criterion for the existence of a duty of care is the so-called neighbourhood principle.

“A duty of care will arise when it is reasonably foreseeable that a person in the position of the claimant would be affected by the defendant’s acts or omissions. The case, especially through the speech of Lord Atkin, is a crucial milestone in both the development of negligence and product liability.”

However, it is still unknown if there really was a snail in Mrs Donoghue’s bottle…