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Law vocabulary · Rights & Obligations

Duty of care

Meaning in law, with examples

nounCommon term

In law, duty of care means: A legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to other people; the first thing a claimant must show in a negligence case.

In Turkish: özen yükümlülüğü, özen borcu

How it is used

In the English tort of negligence, the claimant must prove a duty of care, a breach of that duty and loss caused by the breach. Doctors, employers, drivers and professional advisers 'owe a duty of care' to certain people. The phrase is also used more loosely in business and health and safety texts.

Example sentences

  1. Employers owe a duty of care to their staff.

  2. The question is whether the club owed a duty of care to spectators outside the stadium.

Common collocations

  • owe a duty of care
  • breach of the duty of care
  • duty of care to
  • establish a duty of care
  • negligenceFailure to take the care that a reasonable person would take in the same situation, which causes harm or loss to someone else.
  • tortA wrongful act, other than a breach of contract, that causes harm to another person and allows them to claim compensation in a civil court.
  • liabilityLegal responsibility for something, especially the duty to pay for harm, loss or debts; in accounting, also an amount that a company owes.
  • breachThe act of breaking a law, a contract term or a duty; also used as a verb meaning to break such a rule or promise.
  • liableLegally responsible for something, especially for paying for loss or damage that you have caused or for a debt.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Rights & Obligations

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.