What is Tort
-Tort means a wrongful act, not including a breach of contract or trust, that results in injury to another's person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation.
- A ‘tort’ is a legal wrong, for which the law provides a remedy. It is a civil action taken by one citizen against another and tried in court. A person who sustains injury or suffers pecuniary damage as a result of the wrongful act of another person is known as the plaintiff and the person who is responsible for inflicting the injury and incurs liability for the damage is known as the defendant or tortfeasor.
-Tort is a civil wrong arising from an act or failure to act, independently of any contract, for which an action for personal injury or property damages may be brought.
-Tort law is that body of law which covers violations where one person’s behavior causes injury, suffering, unfair loss, or harm to another person. This is a broad category of law that can include many different types of personal injury claims.
-Tort laws serve two basic, general purposes:
1) to compensate the victim for any losses caused by the defendant’s violations; and
2) to deter (discourage) the defendant from repeating the violation in the future.
How are Torts Classified?
Torts may be classified into three broad categories:
• Intentional torts such as battery
• Unintentional torts such as negligence in a slip and fall case
• Strict liability torts such as those involving ultrahazardous materials that are dangerous in and of themselves
Torts are categorized under civil laws, rather than criminal laws. This means that some torts may involve conduct that is not necessary illegal, but causes harm to another person. However, some tort cases may involve an overlap with criminal laws (such as assault).
What are Some Examples of Torts?
Some common examples of torts include:
• Negligence-related claims
• Civil assault/civil battery
• Wrongful death claims
• Trespassing
• Products liability and dangerous products
• Intentional inflection of emotional distress
Probably the most common type of tort lawsuit is negligence. In order to prove negligence, the victim needs to prove that the defendant breached a duty of care owed to them, and that the breach was the cause of their injuries or losses.
For instance, if the defendant had a duty to keep their shop floor clean, but failed to do so, the plaintiff may be able to sue them if they were injured due to a slip on the dirty shop floor
What are Some Common Remedies in a Tort Case?
Remedies in a tort case will of course be different depending on the type of violation involved, and depending on how the victim was injured or suffered losses. Some common remedies in a tort case may include:
• Monetary damages awards for economic losses
• Damages awards for other related losses, such as emotional distress, pain and suffering, lost wages, or other costs
• An injunction, which is a court order requiring the defendant to cease their harmful actions or to begin taking a specific action (such as reducing pollution or cleaning up after a toxic spill)
You should note that some tort cases may also allow the plaintiff to recover a “punitive damages” award. This is an additional monetary damages award meant to punish the defendant for their conduct. This can sometimes be a very high amount in comparison to the victim’s losses.
However, punitive damages are usually issued only in connection with very offensive or damaging behavior by the defendant. Some states may also place limits on punitive damages (such as up to two or three times the amount of economic losses).
Some examples of tort law
Negligence
The tort of negligence is the most common type of tort you will come across and is the term used to characterize behaviour that poses unreasonable risks of harm to persons and property. The elements that need to be established for the tort of negligence are:
• The existence of a duty of care between the defendant and the plaintiff
• A breach of that duty by the defendant (did his behaviour fall below the threshold of a ‘reasonable man’?)
• Injury or loss suffered by the plaintiff as a direct result of the defendant’s breach
Three further factors that must be considered when establishing duty of care: that the harm was reasonably foreseeable; that the defendant and plaintiff were in a relationship of ‘proximity’; and that it is fair, just and reasonable to impose liability on the defendant.
The concept of ‘Novus Actus Interveniens’ is a Latin concept that revolves around the idea that the act of a third party will intervene between the original act or omission and the damage that is produced as a result. This is often considered to be a general defence to the law of tort and particularly the tort of negligence.
Nuisance
People have the right to quiet enjoyment of their own land and if anyone should interfere with that, be it through being noisy, creating bad smells or polluting the land they are liable to be sued by the property owner under the nuisance tort law.
Intentional torts
Intentional acts that are reasonably foreseeable to cause harm to someone, and do cause harm to someone, are covered by intentional tort law. These include several subcategories, including tort(s) against the person such as assault, battery, false imprisonment, the intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud. Property related torts involve any intentional interference with someone’s property, such as trespass to land.
Remedies
Successful plaintiffs in tort law cases will usually be awarded compensation in ‘damages’ or money. However, in the case of a continuing tort or a tort that is merely threatened, the court may grant an injunction to prevent future harm.
