Consent - Affirmative Defenses and Tort Law

Consent by the injured party can negate the existence of a tort as in the Latin phrase volenti non fit injuria – to one who is willing, no wrong is done.2 min read

Consent

Consent by the injured party can negate the existence of a tort as is apparent in the Latin phrase volenti non fit injuria – to one who is willing, no wrong is done. Consent is judged by its objective manifestation: if a reasonable person would believe that the injured party consented there will be no tort, even if there was no willingness in fact. In certain circumstances silence or inaction will constitute consent.

Even where there is consent, the defendant cannot exceed the scope of the consent. For example, a football player can expect to be tackled and a serious injury may result with no tort; however, if he were tackled during a stop in play or on the sidelines, he would probably have a cause of action against the tackler – the action lay outside the customs of the game and therefore exceeded the scope of consent. Likewise, if the defendant performs a substantially different act than what was consented to, a tort will lie.

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