Understanding Tort Law

What exactly is Tort Law?

One of the first things, perhaps, that a great many students of Legal English come across is what is commonly known as the Law of Torts. What exactly is Tort Law?

Simply put, Tort Law is a branch of civil law that deals with situations where one person's behavior causes injury, harm, or loss - known in legal terms as a ‘tort’ - to another person.

The primary goal is to provide relief to the injured party (in Common Law systems known as the plaintiff) and to impose liability on the party responsible for the harm (defendant).

Tort law aims to restore the injured party to the position they were in before the harm occurred, typically through monetary compensation.

Torts can be through intentional acts, negligence (most torts, in reality), or strict liability offenses.

✅ CATEGORIES OF TORT

Generally speaking, there are three classes of Tort.

1) Intentional torts

These occur when a person intentionally acts in a way that causes harm to another. Examples include:

• assault (an action designed to make the victim feel threatened and worried that physical force is about to be used against them)

• battery (the actual use of physical force)

• false imprisonment

• trespass (entering without authorization on someone’s property)

• intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Although such behavior is normally addressed through the criminal law, very often it is also a matter of civil law.  There are two main reasons for this:

1) Guilt/liability is easier to prove by a plaintiff in a civil trial than by a criminal prosecution, because the burden of proof is different;

2) A criminal case is about punishing the offender, but it may not help the injured party in practical terms, whereas the aim of a civil action is to get compensation. 

2) Negligence

This is the most common type of tort. It occurs when a person fails to exercise a standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would do in similar circumstances, leading to unintentional harm.

Examples include:

• car accidents

• medical malpractice

• accidents (such as slip-and-fall in supermarkets)

• workplace incidents resulting in injury.

3) Strict liability

In strict liability torts, once the defendant’s responsibility has been established, he is considered liable for the plaintiff’s injuries, death or damages without any requirement to prove that it was his fault or negligence.

This typically applies to specific activities (such as airlines in the case of air crashes) or the manufacturers of defective products causing injuries (an area known as product liability).

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✅ ELEMENTS OF A TORT

For a tort to have taken place, a number of elements are required.

Duty of care

The defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff. A duty of care is a general legal obligation to avoid conduct that could foreseeably harm others.

An accident resulting from dangerous driving, for example, would be considered reasonably foreseeable, whereas a sudden destructive gust of wind might not be.  

Breach of duty

The defendant breached that duty through their actions or omissions.

Damage, loss or injury

The plaintiff suffered actual injury, harm or loss as a result of the defendant’s breach. You cannot sue for injuries or loss you never suffered.

In the case of personal injury, this usually means expert medical reports and evidence of the nature, physical causes and extent of the injuries claimed.

For property losses, valid receipts and/or expert assessments and valuations would generally be required.

Causation

There must be a causal link between the defendant’s actions and the loss or injury suffered by the plaintiff.

Let’s say someone gets hurt in an accident involving a forklift truck which turns out to have been faulty. The owner of the truck tries to blame his mechanic for ‘never taking proper care of the truck’ when it goes to the garage.

Suing the owner would be easier for the plaintiff because it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the safe use and maintenance of the vehicle, and the injuries are more directly relatable to his failure to do so than to the mechanic.

If indeed it is the mechanic’s fault, then that becomes a matter for the truck owner to pursue.

✅ COMMON TYPES OF TORTS

In the past, this area was generally referred to as the Law of Torts. This suggested that there was a finite range of injuries that could be classed as torts.

Today, there is a greater tendency to use the singular term: Law of Tort. 

This is because in our modern world, there are so many possible causes of loss or injury, and an equally vast range of forms these losses or injuries can take, that this area of law is seen holistically rather than as a list.

That being said, the most common forms of tort the following.

Personal injury

Injuries caused by accidents or intentional acts, such as car accidents, slips and falls on private property, industrial accidents, and assaults.

Defamation

Harm to a person’s reputation through false statements.

This includes libel (defamation through a public medium such as an online article, a book, a newspaper or a documentary film) and slander (basically, gossip to one or more parties).

Product liability

Harm to people or property caused by defective or dangerous products.

An example would be a faulty electrical product that causes electric shock to the user.

Nuisance

Interference with the use and enjoyment of one’s property, such as through noise, pollution, or odors.

A neighbor carrying out loud construction works in a disruptive way, or a nearby factory polluting the air, could be considered tortious.

✅ DEFENCES IN TORT LAW

There are three main defenses to a Tort action where the loss or injury is otherwise shown to have been a result of the defendant’s action or negligence.

Consent

The plaintiff consented to the action that resulted in harm.

One example might be where a patient gives a written consent to a risky surgical procedure.

Contributory negligence

If the plaintiff is found to be even slightly negligent, this can result in failure to recover compensation (also referred to as damages), either fully or in part.

This is not an absolute defense and is more often used to reduce the extent of compensation. Let us take a situation where the victim of a car accident turns out to have not been wearing a seatbelt.

On the basis of expert medical opinion presented by the defense that wearing it would have reduced the extent of the injuries suffered by approximately half, the judge would most likely reduce the amount of compensation by around 50%.  

Assumption of risk

This is where the plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily assumes the risks associated with a dangerous activity.

A skier who gets injured on the slopes cannot simply sue the ski resort, because he has assumed risk by engaging in a dangerous activity. 

However, if the resort provided him with faulty equipment or sent him as a beginner onto a slope suitable for experts, that could be a different matter.

✅DAMAGES IN TORT LAW

Normally, the damages under Tort law take financial form, i.e. money.  The specific nature of these damages, however, can vary.

Economic damages

These are intended to compensate the plaintiff for actual losses, such as medical expenses and lost wages in the case of personal injuries, or repairs to goods and property. By nature, this category will be limited to real financial losses suffered by the plaintiff, of which proof must be proved (e.g. receipts).

Non-economic damages

This type refers to compensation awarded for non-quantifiable suffering, distress or inconvenience.  These might include physical pain, emotional distress, trauma, loss of enjoyment of property, or the loss of a loved one (such as in the case of fatal accidents). In some countries, such as the US, the compensation amounts for serious injuries can be extremely high, running even into tens of millions of dollars.

Punitive damages

These are designed less to compensate the plaintiff and more to punish the defendant.  After an incident of assault, the judge might award a large sum against the defendant even where the plaintiff’s injuries were minor, simply to deter similar violent behavior in the future.

Nominal damages

These are small sums awarded when a legal wrong has occurred, but no substantial injury or loss resulted. An example would be where no serious loss or injury was deemed to have been suffered, but the judge might award nominal damages to cover legal and other, related fees.

✅CONCLUSION ON TORT LAW

Tort law is an essential aspect of many legal systems, providing a means for individuals to seek a remedy for wrongs done to them.

By understanding the different types of torts, their elements, and the defenses available, individuals can better navigate the complexities of civil legal disputes and uphold their rights.

Tort law not only aims to compensate victims, however, but also serves to deter wrongful conduct and promote a fairer and more just society.