Tort law is the name given to a
body of law that creates, and
provides remedies for, civil wrongs
that do not arise out of contractual
duties.A
person who is legally injured may be
able to use tort law to recover
damages from someone who is
legally responsible, or "liable,"
for those injuries. Generally
speaking, tort law defines what
constitutes a legal injury, and
establishes the circumstances under
which one person may be held liable
for another's injury.
Torts fall into three general
categories: intentional
torts (e.g.,
intentionally hitting a person);
negligent torts
(causing an accident by failing to
obey traffic rules); and
strict liability torts(e.g.,
liability for making and selling
defective products). Intentional
torts are those wrongs which the
defendant knew or should have known
would occur through their actions or
inactions. Negligent torts occur
when the defendant's actions were
unreasonably unsafe. Strict
liability wrongs do not depend on
the degree of carefulness by the
defendant, but are established when
a particular action causes damage.
Intentional
Torts
An intentional tort is any
deliberate interference with a
legally recognized interest, such as
the rights to bodily integrity,
emotional tranquility, dominion over
property, seclusion from public
scrutiny, and freedom from
confinement or deception. These
interests are violated by the
intentional torts of assault,
battery, trespass, false
imprisonment, invasion of privacy,
conversion, misrepresentation, and
fraud. The intent element of these
torts is satisfied when the tortfeasor acts with the desire
to bring about harmful consequences
and is substantially certain that
such consequences will follow. Mere
reckless behavior, sometimes called
willful and wanton behavior, does
not rise to the level of an
intentional tort.
Under certain circumstances the
law permits individuals to
intentionally pursue a course of
conduct that will necessarily result
in harm to others. The harm that
results from such conduct is said to
be outweighed by more important
interests. Self-preservation is one
such interest and is embodied in the
right of self-defense. Individuals
may exert sufficient force in
self-defense to repel an imminent
threat of bodily harm. Deadly force
may only be used by persons who
reasonably believe that their lives
are endangered and for whom there
are no reasonable means of escape.
Reasonable force, but not deadly
force, may be employed in defense of
property
Consent is a defense to
virtually every intentional tort.
The law will not compensate persons
who knowingly allow someone to
injure them. However, consent must
be given freely and voluntarily to
be effective. Consent induced by
coercion, duress, undue influence,
or chicanery is not legally
effective. Nor is consent legally
effective when given by an
incompetent person. Consent to
intentional torts involving grievous
bodily harm is also deemed
ineffective in a number of
jurisdictions.
Negligent
Torts
Most injuries that result from
tortuous behavior are the product of
negligence, not intentional
wrongdoing. Negligence is the term
used by tort law to characterize
behavior that creates unreasonable
risks of harm to persons and
property. A person acts negligently
when her behavior departs from the
conduct ordinarily expected of a
reasonably prudent person under the
circumstances. In general, the law
requires jurors to use their common
sense and life experience in
determining the proper degree of
care and vigilance with which people
must lead their lives to avoid
imperiling the safety of others.
Not every accident producing
injury gives rise to liability for
negligence. Some accidents cannot be
avoided even with the exercise of
reasonable care. An accident that
results from a defendant's sudden
and unexpected physical ailment,
such as a seizure or a blackout,
generally relieves the defendant of
liability for harm caused during his
period of unconsciousness. However,
defendants who have reason to know
of such medical problems are
expected to take reasonable
precautions against the risks the
problems create. In some
jurisdictions unavoidable accidents
are called acts of God.
Assumption of risk is another
defense to negligence actions. This
defense prevents plaintiffs from
recovering for injuries sustained as
a result of a relationship or
transaction they entered with full
knowledge and acceptance of the
risks commonly associated with such
undertakings. Assumed risks include
most of those encountered by
spectators attending sporting
events. However, the law will not
assume that individuals accept the
risk of intentionally inflicted harm
or damage, such as injuries
resulting from assault and battery.
Strict
Liability
In some cases tort law imposes
liability on defendants who are
neither negligent nor guilty of
intentional wrongdoing. Known as
strict liability, or liability
without fault, this branch of torts
seeks to regulate those activities
that are useful and necessary but
that create abnormally dangerous
risks to society. These activities
include blasting, transporting
hazardous materials, storing
dangerous substances, and keeping
certain wild animals in captivity.
A distinction is sometimes drawn
between moral fault and legal fault.
Persons who negligently or
intentionally cause injury to others
are often considered morally
blameworthy for having failed to
live up to a minimal threshold of
human conduct. On the other hand,
legal fault is more of an artificial
standard of conduct that is created
by government for the protection of
society.
Persons who engage in ultra
hazardous activities may be morally
blameless because no amount of care
or diligence can make their
activities safe for society.
However, such persons will
nonetheless be held legally
responsible for harm that results
from their activities as a means of
shifting the costs of injury from
potential victims to tortfeasors. As
a matter of social policy, then,
individuals and entities that engage
in abnormally dangerous activities
for profit must be willing to ensure
the safety of others as a price of
doing business.
Consumers who have been injured
by defectively manufactured products
also rely on strict liability. Under
the doctrine of strict product
liability, a manufacturer must
guarantee that its goods are
suitable for their intended use when
they are placed on the market for
public consumption. The law of torts
will hold manufacturers strictly
liable for any injuries that result
from placing unreasonably dangerous
products into the stream of
commerce, without regard to the
amount of care exercised in
preparing the product for sale and
distribution and without regard to
whether the consumer purchased the
product from, or entered into a
contractual relationship with, the
manufacturer.
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