Tort

Tort law is a part of law. Tort law is used for most harms that are not criminal or based on a contract. Tort law helps people to ask for compensation (repayment) if someone hurts them or hurts their property (something that they have, such as a house). An example of a tort: if a driver is distracted and hurts someone. If a person is hurt by someone else, the person who is hurt can sue the person who hurt them.

Many torts are accidents, like car accidents or slippery floors that make people fall down and get hurt. These are called 'negligent' torts. If someone does not do something that they should do, they are 'negligent'. But some torts are done on purpose. These are called intentional torts. For example, if one person hits another person, it might be an intentional tort called battery.

Many torts cause physical harm to people. Some torts cause damage to property. For example, a broken window. Some torts can harm other things, like someone's reputation (what other people think about them) or a business.

The kinds of torts that this article talks about are a part of the common law. The common law is found in England and former British colonies, such as the United States of America. Different laws are found in civil law countries such as France or Germany. In those countries people usually use the word delict instead of tort, but they mean very similar things.

In general

Torts are what happens when one person (or organization) harm (injure) another. The person or organization that causes the injury is called a tortfeasor. The person who is injured is often called the victim.

The victim may sue the tortfeasor. The people or organizations on each side of a lawsuit are called the parties. In a lawsuit, the victim is called the plaintiff. The tortfeasor is called the defendant.

Usually, the plaintiff in a lawsuit is asking the court to make the defendant pay money to make up for the harm that the defendant caused. For example, the money that the plaintiff asks for might pay for the plaintiff's medical bills if he or she was hurt in an accident. Money that the court orders the defendant to pay is called damages. For some torts, especially ones done on purpose (intentional torts), the plaintiff might also ask the court to punish the defendant by making him or her pay extra money. That extra money is sometimes called 'punitive damages'.

Sometimes a plaintiff also asks the court to order the defendant to stop doing something, like polluting the air or water. An order to stop doing something is called an injunction (in the United States it is sometimes called a restraining order).

Tort law or 'The Law of Torts' is a body of laws that is applied by civil court proceedings to compensate people who have suffered harm due to the wrongful act of another.

Sometimes the same action can be both a tort and a crime. For example, stealing someone else's property might be a criminal offense, but it is also a tort against the person who owns the property. Also, punching somebody in the nose can be both a crime and the tort of battery.

Kinds of torts

Intentional torts

When a defendant causes an injury on purpose, that injury is an intentional tort. Sometimes, an injury can be an intentional tort if the defendant knows it will happen, even if the defendant does not want it to happen. Intentional torts include hitting people and saying things about them that are not true.

Unintentional torts

Unintentional torts are accidents. They usually happen because someone was not being careful. When someone is not careful, it is called negligence or recklessness.

An example of negligence is driving a car while not paying attention to the road. In a case of negligence, the court figures out what happened and decides whether the defendant was careful enough. If they decide that the defendant was not careful enough, they order the defendant to pay money to the victim.

Recklessness occurs when somebody knows that a substantial risk may result to the lives and safety of others because of their actions, but acts with indifference to the safety of others. An example of a reckless act is shooting a gun randomly toward an building that has people inside. Although they do not want to hurt anybody in the building, the action creates a risk that somebody could be hurt or killed.

Strict liability

In some kinds of cases, it does not matter whether the defendant was careful or not. This is called strict liability or absolute liability. For example, in the United States, if someone buys a soda can and it explodes because it was not made correctly, the manufacturer will probably have to give the victim money. They would still have to pay the victim even if the court decides that the defendant was as careful as they could be.

Physical torts

Physical torts are injuries to a person's body, such as hitting them or making them sick.

Abstract torts

Abstract torts are injuries to a person's mind, reputation, or property. A person's mind or reputation can be injured by saying things about them that are not true. A person's property can be injured by taking it from them without permission or saying that it belongs to someone else.

Torts involving people

Torts that involve people include hitting them, saying things about them that are not true, and making them stay in one place when they want to leave. Hitting someone is called battery. Saying things about someone that are not true is called slander, and writing things about someone that are not true is called libel, both of which are forms of defamation. When a police officer takes a person to prison when he or she is not supposed to, that is called false imprisonment or false arrest.

Torts involving property

Torts involving property include walking on someone else's property without permission, taking someone else's property without permission, or damaging someone else's property. Walking on someone else's property without permission is called trespassing. Taking someone else's property without permission is called stealing or conversion.