Have you ever been in a situation where someone’s negligence or recklessly caused you to get injured, or have you heard about people suing over defective products? If so, you encountered a branch of the law called tort law, sometimes referred to as the “law of wrongful injuries.” Tort Law protects against injuries caused by others and holds liable the person who has caused injury.
Let’s break it down: what tort law is, how it works, and why it’s so vital.
What is Tort Law?
At its core, tort law deals with wrongful injuries caused by one party to another. So, when a person becomes careless or reckless or does some intentional act that injures another person, the tort law allows a way for the injured party to seek compensation.
This form of law encompasses everything from bodily injury and emotional distress to economic loss. In the United States, tort law is part of civil law, and cases including this realm of law are taken to civil court, where compensation, rather than punishment, is the objective.
The word “tort” came from a Latin word meaning “twisted” or “wrong.” That thought is still behind the notion of torts today. Tort law encompasses any wrong act that twists the normal course of events in a way that injures another person.
Types of Torts: Three Major Divisions
Tort cases can be divided into three main categories – intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability. Each category is defined according to the nature of the wrongful act and the level of intent behind it.
01. Intentional Torts
An intentional tort is when a person intentionally tries to harm another person. This type of tort includes assault, battery, and defamation. For example, if someone punches another person during a dispute, the victim can file a claim for battery because the incident was intentionally intended to injure that person. Even though the intention was not to cause serious injuries, the fact that one person actually hit another makes that an intentional tort.
Other examples of intentional torts include:
- Assault: A threat to cause injury to another person whereby the person is placed in reasonable apprehension.
- False Imprisonment: Unlawfully confinement of a person by restricting their freedom, such as locking them in a room.
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Acting in an extreme or outrageous way that causes severe emotional trauma to someone else.
Intentional torts sometimes overlap with criminal cases. For example, if someone hits you, that might be an assault. In tort law, however, the aim is usually compensation, not punishment.
02. Negligence
Negligence is the most common type of tort that involves careless behavior rather than intentional harm. If it happens, the injured person (plaintiff) must prove that the responsible person/party (defendant) didn’t act with the due care that they should have exercised under similar circumstances. Car accidents, slip-and-fall injuries, and medical malpractice cases are often considered negligence cases.
To win a negligence case, the victim usually must prove four elements:
- Duty: The defendant had a duty to act with care.
- Breach of duty: The defendant failed to meet that responsibility.
- Causation: The breach of duty caused the injury.
- Damages: These are actual losses the victim suffered, such as medical expenses or lost wages.
For instance, if someone fails to fix a broken staircase and a visitor falls and gets injured, then the owner of the property may be responsible for the incident due to negligence.
03. Strict Liability
In strict liability, a person is held liable for the harm, even if he/she didn’t intent to do it or happened due to their carelessness. In such cases, the action or product has served as a direct cause will be sufficient. Product liability and ultra-hazardous activities are the two most critical examples of strict liability torts.
For instance,
- Product Liability: A manufacturer’s liability for some kind of defect in their product that causes injuries to someone without necessarily an intention to injure; this could include everything from faulty car brakes to unsafe toys for kids.
- Animal Attacks: Owners may be held strictly liable if their pets or other animals injure someone.
- Abnormally Dangerous Activities: The use of explosives or other hazardous chemicals might result in strict liability because of the inherent threat such activities pose to others.
Cases of strict liability lessen the burden required of the plaintiff by not needing to prove intent or negligence-just that the product or action caused an injury.
Key Terms in a Tort Case
Knowing a few terms can make it easier to understand how the trial of a tort case works:
- Plaintiff: The injured person who actually brings the case.
- Defendant: A person who is liable for the damage.
- Damages: The physical, emotional, or financial damage the plaintiff endured, for example, hospital bills, salary loss, and suffering.
Damages and Compensation in Tort Cases
One of the primary purposes of the law of torts is to compensate injured parties. Damages Compensatory money awarded to a plaintiff in a lawsuit usually takes one of two forms:
- Compensatory Damages: These would serve the purpose of “making the injured person whole” with costs such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damages.
- Punitive Damages: Sometimes courts award additional damages against a defendant to punish that defendant for particularly injurious behavior. This is not a common type of award but is sometimes used when a court wants to deter a defendant and others from doing the same.
For example, courts can award punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages if a company sells a defective product that causes multiple types of injury. The result would be a big warning to other companies to be more careful.
Tort Law v. Criminal Law
Tort law is often confused with criminal law, but they are different. In a criminal case, the government prosecutes someone for breaking the law, whereas in tort, it’s one against another seeking compensation. Criminal penalties are either imprisonment or a fine, while in tort law, compensation decides the case. But some acts like assault give rise to both criminal and tort cases.
The Role of Tort Law
Tort law serves three purposes:
- Compensation: It ensures whoever is injured is compensated for his loss in physical, emotional, or economic terms.
- Deterrence: Tort law makes individuals or entities responsible for careless or hurtful acts.
- Justice: The law of torts allows the injured party to seek justice outside of a criminal court.
Tort law in the legal system generally tries to hold people more accountable for a safer community, which is another way of balancing individual rights and social responsibility.
Final Thoughts
Tort law, or the law of wrongful injuries, safeguards people from harm and assists those victimized in receiving just compensation. From car accidents to defective products, among many others, tort law has encompassed many cases that actually involve quite a large part of daily life. While each case can be complicated in its own way and might require legal guidance, the underlying purpose of tort law is simple: to make sure that everyone is equitably compensated when it is not his or her fault.
Whether you’re looking to understand your rights after an injury or are simply curious about how the law protects people from harm, knowing the basics of tort law can be incredibly helpful.
