Legal Definitions - no-duty

In legal terms, "no-duty" refers to a situation where a person has no legal obligation or requirement to perform a particular action. It signifies the freedom to choose not to act without facing legal repercussions for that inaction. Essentially, if there's no duty, there's no legal responsibility to intervene, assist, or perform a specific task.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of "no-duty":

• Bystander to a non-dangerous incident: Imagine someone walking through a park who sees a stranger accidentally drop their scarf. While it might be a kind gesture to pick up the scarf and return it, there is generally no legal duty requiring the passerby to do so. The passerby has a "no-duty" to act in this situation, meaning they are not legally compelled to retrieve the item.
• Witnessing a non-criminal dispute: Consider a scenario where a person observes two strangers engaged in a heated verbal argument on a public street that does not involve physical violence or a clear threat of immediate harm. Unless there's a specific legal requirement to intervene (which is rare for general bystanders), the observer typically has no legal duty to step in, call the authorities, or mediate the dispute. They possess a "no-duty" regarding the argument.
• Not providing unsolicited advice or help: If a homeowner notices their neighbor struggling to fix a leaky faucet, and the homeowner happens to be a plumber, they generally have no legal duty to offer their professional services or advice. While they might choose to help out of neighborliness, they are not legally obligated to do so. They have a "no-duty" to intervene in their neighbor's plumbing issue.