This document discusses different types of obligations and liability under jurisprudence. It defines obligations as duties and classifies them as solidary if two or more debtors owe the same debt to the same creditor. Obligations can arise from contracts, torts, quasi-contracts, or be innominate. The document distinguishes between civil/remedial liability for remedying injuries and penal liability for punishing wrongdoers. It notes the requirements for establishing criminal liability are an actus reus and mens rea. Mens rea refers to the mental state and can be intentional, negligent, or based on absolute liability.

1. OBLIGATIONS

2. ❖Obligation in general sense means a duty.
❖Under jurisprudence, obligation means:
❖ A duty in personam.
❖ A legal bond or vinculum juris
❖ Proprietary right in personam

3. SOLIDARY OBLIGATIONS
❖ Ordinarily in an obligation, there will be one creditor, and one debtor.
❖ An obligation in which two or more debtors owe the same debt to the same
creditor is called a solidary obligation.
❖ Solidary obligations are classified into:-
❖ Several – Two or more persons owe the same thing to the same creditor under
different transaction.
❖ Joint – Two or more persons are bound to the same creditors for the same
thing by the same transaction.
❖ Joint and Several – Two or more debtors are bound to the same creditors for
the same thing by the same transaction but the law would treat the obligation
as several for certain legal purposes.

4. SOURCES OF OBLIGATIONS
❖Contractual – Created by consent of parties
❖Delictal – Arising from torts
❖Quasi-contractual - Not contractual per se
❖Innominate- Residuary class of obliugations

5. LIABILITY

6. ❖Liability or responsibility is the bond of
necessity that exists between the wrongdoer
and the remedy of the wrong.
❖Two kinds of Liability:-
❖ Civil/Remedial Liability
❖ Penal Liability

7. CIVIL/REMEDIAL LIABILITY
❖ Creation of a duty correspondingly creates provision for enforcement.
❖ Liability to be compelled by law to fulfil legal duties is called remedial
liability.
❖ It is to remedy the injury caused by non-observance of a duty.
❖ Exceptions:
❖ Imperfect duties in which specific enforcement is not possible. Eg: Time-
barred debts.
❖ Irrevocable wrongs which cannot be undone. Eg: Criminal assault,
published libel.
❖ Other remedies allowed by law.

8. PENAL LIABLITY
❖ Penal liability arises when its purpose involves punishment of
the wrongdoer for the wrong.
❖ All criminal liabilities are penal.
❖ Actus non facit rem, nisi mens sit rea – Act alone does not
amount to guilt; it must be accompanied by a guilty mind.
❖ Two essential conditions for establishing criminal liability
❖ actus reus
❖ mens rea
❖ Penal liability is imposed on a person when the two elements
are present and proved beyond doubt.

9. ACTS
❖ Acts constitute the basis of liability.
❖ An act is any event, which is subject to the control of human
will.
❖ Acts are classified as:
❖ Positive Act – Commission of an act
❖ Negative Act – Omission of an act.
❖ Internal Act- Act of the mind, such as thoughts.
❖ External Act – Acts of the body, such as physical act.
❖ Intentional Act A- An act done expecting a particular
consequence.
❖ Unintentional Act – An act, the result of which is not of
conscious desire.

10. Mens rea
❖ Mens rea refers to the state of mind of a person
committing a wrong.
❖ According to John Austin, intention or negligence is a
necessary component of injury or wrong, guilt or
imputability of breach, or violation of duty or obligation.
❖ With regard to mens rea, wrongs are classified as:
❖ Intentional wrongs
❖ Negligence
❖ Wrongs of Absolute liabilty

11. INTENTIONAL WRONG
❖ An intention is the purpose or design with which an act is done.
❖ According to Salmond, “Intention is the foresight of a desired issue
however improbable and not the foresight of an undesirable issue
however probable.”
❖ Every crime under IPC 1860 passes through four stages.
❖ Intention
❖ Preparation
❖ Attempt
❖ Successful completion
Narayanaswamy v. Emperor AIR 1932 Mad 507
❖ Necessity is an exception- R v. Dudley – Jus necessitatis
❖ Mistake – R v. Prince

12. NEGLIGENCE
❖ Negligence is culpable carelessness.
❖ Negligence means a non-intentional failure to
conform to the conduct of a reasonable man in
respect of the consequence in question and
therefore involves both subjective and objective
inquiry.
❖ Negligence may vary in degree, hence duty to take
definitive care and standard of care are determining
factors in case of negligence.

13. ABSOLUTE LIABILITY
❖ Absolute liability or the wrongful acts for which a man is responsible irrespective of the
existence of either wrongful intent or negligence.
❖ Exception to Actus non facit rem, nisi mens sit rea.
❖ The chief instances of absolute liability are divided into:
❖ Mistake of law – Ignorantia juris non excusat
State of Maharshtra v. George AIR 1965 SC 722
❖ Mistake of fact is a defence under criminal liability.
Foster’s case 265 KGC 27
❖ Accident- Every act which is not done intentionally is done either accidentally or by
mistake.
❖ Strict liability is an exception to the rule.
Rylands v. Fletcher (1868) LR 3 HL 330