ABSTRACT
The standard of the reasonable person or its equivalent, in general, is used in many jurisdictions to determine fault in the form of negligence. Although the standard is predominantly objective it is also subjective in that the subjective attributes of the person against whom the standard applies as well as the subjective circumstances present at the time of the delict or tort lend themselves to an objective-subjective application. In South African law, before a person can be judged according to the standard of the reasonable person, the person must first be held accountable. If a person cannot be held accountable, then the standard does not apply at all.
The general standard of the reasonable person cannot be applied to children, the elderly, persons with physical disabilities, persons with mental impairments or experts. Therefore, depending on the subjective attributes of the person against whom the standard is being applied, the standard may have to be adjusted accordingly. The general standard of the reasonable person would be raised when dealing with experts, for instance, and lowered when dealing with persons with physical disabilities …
Ahmed, Raheel, The Standard of the Reasonable Person in Determining Negligence – Comparative Conclusions (April 19, 2021), Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (PER / PELJ) 2021(24) – DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a8631.
First posted 2021-08-21 08:00:12
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