Res Ipsa Loquitur
In the common law of torts, res ipsa loquitur (Latin for "the thing speaks for itself") is a doctrine that infers negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evidence on how any defendant behaved.
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Origin
Latin for 'the thing speaks for itself,' this doctrine was established in the 1863 English case Byrne v Boadle, in which a barrel of flour fell from a warehouse onto a pedestrian. Chief Baron Jonathan Frederick Pollock of the Court of Exchequer ruled that the accident itself was prima facie evidence of negligence, establishing a doctrine that has remained central to tort law ever since.
Updated February 22, 2026