72Mental harm—duty of care

72 Mental harm—duty of care (1) A person (the **defendant**) does not owe a duty to another person (the **plaintiff**) to take care not to cause the plaintiff pure mental harm unless the defendant foresaw or ought to have foreseen that a person of normal fortitude might, in the circumstances of the case, suffer a recognised psychiatric illness if reasonable care were not taken. (2) For the purposes of the application of this section, the circumstances of the case include the following— (a) whether or not the mental harm was suffered as the result of a sudden shock; (b) whether the plaintiff witnessed, at the scene, a person being killed, injured or put in danger; (c) the nature of the relationship between the plaintiff and any person killed, injured or put in danger; (d) whether or not there was a pre-existing relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. (3) This section does not affect the duty of care of a person (the **defendant**) to another (the **plaintiff**) if the defendant knows, or ought to know, that the plaintiff is a person of less than normal fortitude. S. 73 inserted by No. 102/2003 s. 3.