The K-Zone: Occupiers' Liability Act (1957)

This Act defines the DutyOfCare that the occupier has to people who enter his premises lawfully. A duty may also arise in respect of unlawful entrants -- trespassers -- as defined in the OccupiersLiabilityAct1984.

The 1957 Act does not replace or supplant the principles of common law negligence that apply to occupiers; it simply states what the duty of care is. A claimant therefore does not have to overcome the first hurdle in a negligence action -- that of showing there was a duty of care. The duty is ``to take such care as is reasonable in the circumstances to see that the visitor is reasonably safe for the purposes for which he is permitted to be there''.

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