The
reasonable person is a
legal fiction of the
common law representing an objective standard against which any individual's conduct can be measured. It is used to determine if a breach of the
standard of care has occurred, provided a
duty of care can be proven.
The reasonable person standard holds each person owes a duty to behave as a reasonable person would under the same or similar circumstances.[1][2] While the specific circumstances of each case will require varying kinds of conduct and degrees of care, the reasonable person standard undergoes no variation itself.[3][4]
This standard performs a crucial role in determining negligence in both criminal law—that is, criminal negligence—and tort law. The standard also has a presence in contract law, though its use there is substantially different.
The standard does not exist independently of other circumstances within a case which could affect an individual's judgment.
