Absolute Liability (Legal Definition: All You Need To Know)

What is Absolute Liability?

How do you legally define it?

What are the essential elements you should know!

Keep reading as we have gathered exactly the information that you need!

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Absolute Liability Overview

Absolute liability is when the law holds a person or entity legally responsible for committing an act or offense without considering any element of fault or intention.

In other words, the moment the act, behavior, or conduct is proven, the defendant is legally liable for the consequences of the act no matter if it was acting in good faith, had the intention or not, due to a mistake of fact or other.

The legal theory of absolute liability triggers the liability of the at-fault party without the possibility of escaping such responsibility due to the defendant’s subjective views or feelings. 

A defendant will not be in a position to limit his or her liability on the grounds that there was a reasonable mistake of fact, for instance.

The legal notion of ‘absolute liability is a legal liability doctrine found in tort law, insurance law, criminal law, traffic law, and other related legal regimes.

The overall nature of absolute liability is quite harsh.

Think about it, the law states that you are responsible no matter what the moment you committed the act considered wrongful.

In some cases, absolute liability is actually effective, such as a person is absolutely responsible for driving a car without a license or speeding over the speed limit.

Legal Definition

What is the legal definition of absolute liability?

“Absolute liability” is when the law considers a person to be liable without excuse or consideration of the nature of the conduct.

Certain behavior or conduct will result in absolute liability without fault or regardless of the nature of the conduct (such as negligence).

In criminal law, to be convicted of a crime, the prosecutor must prove that the defendant committed the act and had the intention to commit the act (mental state or mens rea).

In absolute liability cases, the defendant can be found guilty of an offense even without the evidence of the intention to commit the crime.

Liability Factor

What are the liability factors applicable to absolute liability?

Generally, when the law imposes an absolute responsibility on a charged party, the conduct or behavior is perceived by society as high-risk.

For example, in medical malpractice cases, a physician who takes risk on a patient to try a new medical procedure may be found absolutely liable for the damages to the patient.

This type of conduct is harmful to patients in general and the law wants to ensure that physicians are held accountable for it.

In product liability cases, once it is proved that the product was defective, the manufacturer would be held responsible as this poses risk to consumers.

Absolute Liability In Tort

What is absolute liability in tort?

In tort, absolute liability results in the defendant being held accountable to pay for the damages caused.

Typically, the damages considered are those proximately caused by the alleged harmful conduct.

In a civil lawsuit, to obtain monetary awards or damages, the plaintiff will not need to prove the “negligence” on the part of the defendant.

In a standard personal injury or wrongful death case (civil lawsuit), the plaintiff must prove the various elements of negligence such as the duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, breach of such duty, damages, and the causality between the defendant’s conduct and the damages.

On the other hand, in absolute liability lawsuits, the plaintiff will only need to prove that the defendant caused damages and the causality (or proximate cause). 

The plaintiff does not have to prove that the defendant owed it a duty of care or the breach of the duty.

In addition to the plaintiff’s job made easier to prove an absolute liability case, the defendant will have a more limited line of defense.

In fact, the defendant cannot raise the defense of having acted in good faith, acted reasonably, or took due care.

Absolute Liability In Insurance

What is the absolute liability insurance definition?

In insurance law, the notion of absolute liability is relevant if you are looking to purchase an absolute liability insurance policy.

There are insurance companies out there that understand the risks associated with certain practices and conduct that may lead to an absolute liability conviction.

For example, doctors can purchase an absolute liability insurance policy to protect themselves from absolute liability lawsuits.

Companies can purchase special types of insurance to protect them against liability in case their product is defective resulting in damages to the consumers.

Absolute Liability vs Strict Liability 

What should you know about strict or absolute liability?

What is the difference between absolute liability and strict liability?

The specific requirements may vary from one jurisdiction to another but generally, absolute liability is a type of liability where the law requires that the wrongful conduct be established for the defendant to be held accountable.

The intention, mental state, conduct, or subjective feelings of the defendant are not legally relevant for the outcome of the case.

In the context of strict liability, a defendant may invoke defense arguments such as due care, or due diligence, or similar lines of defense to be discharged of responsibility.

In essence, the main difference between absolute liability and strict liability is whether or not the defendant can invoke the “reasonable mistake of fact” as a defense argument.

In absolute liability cases, the mistake of fact defense is not possible whereas in strict liability cases, it is.

Example

What are some examples of absolute liability cases?

Here are a few common examples where the law imposes absolute liability for an act, conduct, or offense:

• Driving above the speed limit
• Driving without a valid driver’s license 
• Hunting with another person’s hunting license 
• Product liability for certain hazards
• Owning a dangerous pet 
• Failure to stop at a stop sign 
• Failure to stop at a red light 

When the law considers that the person has “absolute” liability, then the defendant cannot escape responsibility by invoking arguments to justify why the act was performed such as reasonable mistake of fact, insanity, automatism, duress, or other defenses possible.

Takeaways 

So what is the legal definition of Absolute Liability?

Let’s look at a summary of our findings.

Absolute Liability

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