Obligation in Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Obligation in Law - Case Study Example Jack - he was watching the news at home when a live feed of the accident came on TV and realised that his wife and daughter were among the spectators. He was a nervous wreck for several weeks although he had learned earlier that his wife and daughter left the airfield 30 minutes before the accident. The claims by the five individuals when consolidated into one imposes on the plane manufacturer an obligation in law arising ex delicto, or from the tortuous acts of negligence and recklessness (Classic Encyclopaedia, online; 'Lectric Law Library, 2001). Negligence is in fact one of the five major offenses punishable under the tort law, the other four being trespass on land, trespass against goods, trespass against person, and defamation (Street, 1999). This suggests that the plane manufacturer as respondent or defendant in the five tort cases has civil liability to compensate the claimants for the alleged damages they sustained from the crash in the form of "nervous shock." However, a careful reading of the law, specifically the assigning of civil liability and the circumstances that warrant the awarding of damages thereto, makes that proposition doubtful. Obligation is defined as an act or course of... Negligence is in fact one of the five major offenses punishable under the tort law, the other four being trespass on land, trespass against goods, trespass against person, and defamation (Street, 1999). This suggests that the plane manufacturer as respondent or defendant in the five tort cases has civil liability to compensate the claimants for the alleged damages they sustained from the crash in the form of "nervous shock." However, a careful reading of the law, specifically the assigning of civil liability and the circumstances that warrant the awarding of damages thereto, makes that proposition doubtful. Obligation Obligation is defined as an act or course of action required of a person by law or by virtue of his position, religion or the prevailing custom (Currie & Cameron, 2000). In this case, it is the law that supposedly obliges the plane manufacturer to compensate the five claimants for nervous shock, which amounts to damages difficult to quantify. The inherent difficulty of quantifying nervous shock is the first hurdle that the claimants need to overcome to prove their case against the respondent. As noted by Cabresi & Hirschoff (1972), such emotional pain and suffering, which leads to loss of enjoyment of life, is not easily quantifiable and depends on the individual circumstances of the claimants. Looking into these individual circumstances, it seems hard to believe that Jack was in shock for a prolonged period since he was not on the scene at all and he immediately learned that the family members he was worried about left the air show 30 minutes before the accident. The same question c an be asked of John who lives quite a distance from the airfield, of