''Byrne v Boadle'' (2 Hurl. & Colt. 722, 159 Eng. Rep. 299, 1863) is an

English tort law English tort law concerns the compensation for harm to people's rights to health and safety, a clean environment, property, their economic interests, or their reputations. A "tort" is a wrong in civil, rather than criminal law, that usually requi ...

case that first applied the doctrine of ''

res ipsa loquitur ''Res ipsa loquitur'' (Latin: ''"the thing speaks for itself"'') is a doctrine in the common law and Roman-Dutch law jurisdictions under which a court can infer negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evid ...

''.

Facts

A barrel of flour fell from a second-story

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

and hit the plaintiff on his head. Though there were two witnesses who saw the injury, there were no witnesses as to how the barrel fell out and hit the plaintiff. Under these conditions, the plaintiff was not required to provide

direct evidence Direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion (in criminal law, an assertion of guilt or of innocence) directly, i.e., without an intervening inference. A witness relates what they directly experienced, usually by sight or hearing, but also p ...

as to whether the person responsible for the barrel had

breached Breached was a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario, active from 2010 to 2015. Its members were Bobby Noakes (vocals), Mike Diesel (guitar/vocals), Ryan Alexander (bass), and Neil Uppal (drums). Mike Diesel was a member of the band Age o ...

his

duty of care In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed on an individual, requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be establis ...

Judgment

Initially, in the lower court the case was non-suited through a direct verdict because the plaintiff could provide no evidence. Subsequently the appellate court concluded that under the conditions, the fact of the accident itself provided sufficient

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

to establish the breach of a duty of care.

Baron Pollock Sir Charles Edward Pollock, serjeant-at-law, SL (31 October 1823 – 21 November 1897) was an England, English judge, one of the last Baron of the Court of the Exchequer, Barons of the Court of the Exchequer and Serjeant-at-law, serjeants-at-law ...

said the following.

Notes

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External links

Text of case"> Text of case
English tort case law 1863 in case law 1863 in British law Exchequer of Pleas cases