Explained: What is Tort Law?

A tort is when one person inflicts an injury on another, and the injured party can sue for damages. A person is liable for the wrongful act, whether done accidentally or intentionally.

The term ¡®tort¡¯ is derived from the Mediaeval Latin word "tortum" which means "wrong" or "injury". An individual who commits a tort is called a tortfeasor or a wrongdoer. A tort may include physical or mental harm, damage or loss of property, or a financial loss.

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The wrongdoing is called a tortious act, and they can be sued individually or jointly. The injured party can claim compensation through a court process. For example, negligent injury, battery, deceit, and defamation.

A wrongful act can be either morally wrong or legally wrong, or both at the same time. But a person can take legal action only when a legal wrongful act affects one¡¯s legal rights. The wrongful act must be recognized by law; the act must be in violation of the law to be a legal wrongful act.

Prominent examples of torts include negligent injury, battery, deceit, and defamation.

Types of Torts

Major categories of the tort law are negligent torts, intentional torts, and strict liability torts. Even accidents are considered negligent torts.

Intentional torts are wrongs for which the defendant knew what the outcome of his actions would be or should have known and decided to do them anyway. For example, striking someone in a fight would be considered an intentional act, whereas accidentally hitting another person would not qualify as "intentional" because there was no intent to strike the individual. Yet this act would be considered negligent if the person hit was badly injured.

This is very different from criminal charges because intentional torts are wrongful acts that injure or interfere with an individual¡¯s well-being or property. A wrongful act in terms of a criminal case would mean an act that interferes with society. Another difference is that the results of a crime conviction would be fines or jail sentences, but the real aim of a trial is to get monetary compensation for the damage incurred.

Sometimes a wrongful act may be both a criminal and a tort case. Examples of intentional torts are assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, defamation, and trespass.

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There is a minimum level of expectation for citizens of a country. The legal duty imposed on the government to act a certain way in order to reduce the risk of harm to others Failure to adhere to these standards is known as negligence.

Negligence is not a deliberate action, but when a person fails to act carefully enough and another person gets hurt as a result, For example, a driver on the road has a duty to drive at a reasonable speed. If a driver travels 20 miles over the speed limit, they have acted negligently. If they hit someone and hurt them, they have committed a negligence tort and likely owe the victim for their losses.

Lastly, strict liability torts allow responsibility to be imposed on the wrongdoer without proof of negligence or intentional acts. A victim can claim damages even if the responsible person took precautionary steps and didn¡¯t hurt them intentionally; all they have to prove is that they were hurt by the actions of the other person.

Defective product and dog bite cases are prime examples of when liability is maintained despite intent.

The Law of Tort in India

The tort law of India is developed and evolved based on the law of torts in the UK. The law does not come from a statute and is not codified, which is known as "judge-made law".

The number of cases under tort law that are filed in India is low compared to other countries. It is believed that the major reason for this is that people are not pursuing tort cases as vigorously as in other countries.

The reality of tort cases has been discussed many times, whether the law of torts in India is necessary or not. It has been acknowledged how essential the tort law is to India's growth and development.

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However, knowledge of torts and their use is not very popular among the general public, primarily because it is not codified. It has also been observed by the Supreme Court of India a number of times that there is a need to codify the law of tort in order to facilitate its greater use.

The principles of torts have also been applied in legislation such as the Environment Protection Act of 1986, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the Human Rights Protection Act of 1988, and the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. Still, it hasn¡¯t developed to the extent of tort laws in the United States and the United Kingdom.

References

R. Mack Babcock | The 3 Different types of Tort Law. Retrieved from The Babcock Law Firm.

Tort | Retrieved from Cornell Law School.

Shravarshinde | Law of Torts - An Overview. Retrieved from Legal service India.