Donoghue V Stevenson - Condescendences

Condescendences

The full allegations made by Donoghue were presented in five condescendences, which claimed that Stevenson had a duty of care to Donoghue to ensure that snails did not get into his bottles of ginger beer, but that he had breached this duty by failing to provide a system to effectively clean bottles, a system that would usually be used in the business and was necessary given that the ginger beer was intended for human consumption. The ineffectiveness of the cleaning system was alleged to result from the bottles being left in places "to which it was obvious that snails had freedom of access ... and in which, indeed, snails and the slimy trails of snails were frequently found", an allegation described by Matthew Chapman as "somewhat gratuitous". This breach of duty was alleged to have caused Donoghue's subsequent illness.

Stevenson responded to the condescendences by denying that any of his bottles of ginger beer had contained snails and "that the alleged injuries are grossly exaggerated ... any illness suffered by the was due to the bad condition of her own health at the time". In response to the writ, Stevenson plead (1) that the claim had no legal basis, (2) that the facts could not be substantiated, (3) that he had not caused Donoghue any injury and (4) that the claimed amount was excessive

Donoghue reacted by taking the claim to the Court of Session. However, before determining issues of fact, such as the existence of the snail, the court focused on an issue of law: assuming that Donoghue's claims were true, was there a cause of action available?