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Volenti non fit injuria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Volenti non fit injuria (Latin: "to a willing person, no injury is done") is a common law doctrine which means that someone who knowingly and willingly puts themselves in a dangerous situation will be unable to sue for his or her resulting injuries. It is sometimes described as the plaintiff "consenting to run a risk" but should be distinguished from consent which can prevent some torts arising in the first place (for example, consent to a medical procedure preventing the procedure being a trespass to the person, or consenting to a person visiting your land preventing them being a trespasser).
For example, rugby and football players consent to the incidental contact that arise from the normal conduct of those sports, including the attendant risk of physical injury. In boxing, participants consent to the deliberate infliction of harm by their opponent. However, if a player goes outside the usual conduct of the sport, or a match official is negligent in letting play get out of control, then a claim may arise. It may be said that the standard of care in such cases has been altered, to increase the threshold of carelessness necessary to found a claim.
In some cases, volenti overlaps with the contributory negligence, which can reduce the defendant's legal responsibility to take account of the culpabity of the plaintiff.