 In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, for which the law provides a remedy. The origins of the modern law of torts lie in the old remedies of trespass and trespass on the case. The term itself comes from law French and means, literally, "a wrong." The French phrase avoir tort translates to "to have wrong." The analogous body of law in civil law legal systems is delict.
Definition of a tort
The term "tort" is a legal term derived from the Latin word "tortus", meaning a "wrong". In his famous treatise, Handbook of the Law of Torts,
William Prosser defined "tort" as "a term applied to a miscellaneous
and more or less unconnected group of civil wrongs other than breach of
contract for which a court of law will afford a remedy in the form of
an action for damages."
Besides damages, in a limited range of cases, tort law will tolerate
self-help, for example, using reasonable force to expel a trespasser.
Further, in the case of a continuing tort, or even where harm is merely
threatened, the courts will sometimes grant an injunction to restrain the continuance or threat of harm.
Tort law is distinguished from the law of contract, the law of restitution, the law of equity and the criminal law. Contract law protects expectations arising from promises,
restitution prevents unjust enrichment, equity seeks to ensure that
people act properly in certain circumstances and criminal law punishes
wrongs that are so severe that the state has a direct interest in
preventing them (such as murder). Note that many wrongs can result in liability to both the state as crimes, and to the victim as torts.
Tort law serves to protect a person's interest in his or her bodily security, tangible property, financial resources, or reputation. Interference with one of these interests is redressable by an action for compensation, usually in the form of unliquidated damages.
The law of torts therefore aims to restore the injured person to the
position he or she was in before the tort was committed (the
expectation or rightful position principle).
In most countries, torts are typically divided into three broad categories — intentional torts, negligence and nuisance. Additional categories or subcategories are recognized in some countries. Some torts are strict liability torts, in that the plaintiff
may recover by showing only that the wrong took place, and that the
defendant committed the wrong — there is no need to show the
defendant's state of mind or that the defendant breached a duty of due
care.
Purposes of torts
The law of torts determines whether a loss that befalls one person
should or should not be shifted to another person. Some of the
consequences of injury or death, such as medical expenses incurred, can
be made good by payment of damages. Damages may also be paid, for want of a better means of compensation, for non-pecuniary consequences, such as pain.
In "The Aims of the Law of Tort" (1951)
Glanville Williams saw four possible bases on which different torts
rested: appeasement, justice, deterrence and compensation. The law
tends to emphasize different aims in relation to intentional torts from
those in relation to negligence or strict liability. After Williams'
article, there grew a school of economic analysts of law who emphasized
incentives and deterrence.
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