Personal injury claims in Singapore

Personal injury claims are brought under the Tort of Negligence. This area of law is governed by case law and the Contributory Negligence and Personal Injuries Act (Cap 54). A claimant who wishes to sue for personal injury needs to show the following:

1. The Defendant owes the Claimant a duty of care

A duty of care will usually exist in most cases of injury to a person. However the court may find that the Defendant did not owe a duty of care to the Claimant in exceptional cases where it is not fair, just and reasonable to do so.

2. The Defendant breached his duty to the Claimant

The standard of care to be taken by the defendant is one that is objective. The defendant will not be judged by his own characteristics and attributes but he will be expected to observe the standard of care which a reasonable person would take in performing the same task and in the circumstances which the Defendant was in. When the Defendant’s conduct falls below the standard of the reasonable man, he is said to have breached his duty of care. However, special standards of care may exist for professionally skilled people who are performing duties within their expertise.

3. The Defendant’s breach caused the Claimant to suffer theinjury

To prove that the Defendant caused the Claimant’s personal injury, the Claimant generally has to establish that the injury would not be sustained “but for” the Defendant’s conduct.  However, this will not be as straightforward in cases where there could be multiple or concurrent causes of the Claimant’s injury. Also, the Claimant has to show that the injury is not too remote. To do so, it must be proven that the type of damage sustained is reasonably foreseeable.

Should you have any questions or require legal representation, kindly contact Gloria James-Civetta & Co on 6337-0469 for a free consultation, or email to consult@gjclaw.com.sg