Tort Law - Definition, Types & Examples

This Article is written by Shruti

An Introduction to Tort law

The word tort derives from the French word which means ‘wrong’. Tort is a civil wrong. Tort law is the law of liability which is civil and whenever someone does an injury to another person, tort is applied. Breach of trust and breach of breach of contract are also wrongs other than tort. Tort provides remedies for civil wrongs in the present system of law. Tort provides for a method to get compensation for the wrongs that have been committed. Tort results in encouraging people not to commit any more torts and wrongs against other people in society. Additionally, it ensures justice and fairness, regulates conduct and helps develop law and private enforcement without any governmental action. Although there has not been a clear expression of tort in everyday life. But it still tells us about our duties and obligations. The tort of battery warns us not to interfere with other person’s body or touch them without their consent and in a wrongful manner. The tort of trespass tells us that we should not interfere with another person’s land without permission. In India, the law is based on English law and on justice, equality, and right conscience. The courts in India can see whether the rules of English law can be applied to Indian society and circumstances or not. According to Salmons tort is a civil wrong, the remedy for it is common law action and it is not the breach of contract and breach of trust. The remedy for tort is unliquidated damages.

Types of Tort

Torts can be classified into three categories mainly as

Personal wrongs
Wrongs to property
Wrongs to person, estate and property generally

Personal wrongs are divided into other four categories such the wrongs affecting safety and freedom of the person: Assault, Battery, False imprisonment. The wrongs affecting personal relations in the family: seduction, enticing away of servants. The wrongs affecting reputation : slander and libel. The wrongs affecting estate generally: deceit, slander of title, malicious prosecution and conspiracy.

Wrongs to property can be classified into Trespass: (a) to land (b) to goods. Conversion and unnamed wrongs ejusdem generis. Disturbance of easements etc. And interference with rights analogous to property, such as private franchise, patents, copyrights. Wrongs to person, estate, and property generally: nuisance, negligence and breach of absolute duties specially attached to the occupation of fixed property, to the ownership and custody of dangerous things and to the exercise of certain public callings.^[1]

Key Elements of Tort

The law of torts is fashioned as “an instrument for making people adhere to standard of reasonable behaviour and respect the rights and interests of one another”^[2]. The interests of a person are protected and the person can claim compensation for the violation of those from the person who has violated the same. The interest here according to Pound means “a claim, want or desire of a human being or group of human beings which the human being or the group of human being seeks to satisfy, and of which, therefore, the ordering of human relations in civilised society must take into account”. But all the dearies of people cannot be accepted therefore it is important to see that rights of citizens do not violate the rights of other citizens.

For tort to happen three things should be there first there should be a Wrongful act, secondly there should be damage not physical but legal damage and for it there should be a remedy that is legal be there.Wrongful Act: An act can lead to tortious liability if that act violates the right of another person. A general exercise of one’s own right is not a tort unless it interferes with the right of another person. For example, if a person erects a structure in his own land, it is the exercise of his own right unless it obstructs the right to light to his neighbour who has acquired it under The Easements Act,1882.

It could be understand better by taking the case of Ashby v. White (1703) where the plaintiff’s right was violated by not allowing him to vote which was the wrongful act and the court held defendants liable.

Damage: For an act to be consider as tort there must be some legal damage to the person, which means his right should be violated, mere physical damage cannot result in the granting of remedy.
Remedy: After a wrong has been done there is damage to the person against whom the wrong has been done. The court will provide a legal remedy to the person to rectify a wrong. This can also be understood by the legal maxim ‘ubi jus ibi remedium’ which means where there is a wrong there is a remedy.

Important cases of Torts

Donoghue v. Stevenson

About: Doctrine of negligence and neighbour principle

Facts: The appellant on 26^th August 1928, consumed the contents of ginger beer bottle bought by her friend. After she had consumed most of the part of the part of the bottle, the respondent poured the rest into the glass and there was decomposed remains of snail in it. Due the bottle being opaque, the amount remained undetected. Consequently, the appellant suffered shock and serious case of gastroenteritis. She then filed a case against the respondent. The court found the respondent guilty for negligence and was asked to pay the damages.

2. Rylands v. Fletcher

About: Strict liability

Facts: In this case, the defendants were the mill owners who decided to construct a reservoir on their land. When the reservoir was constructed and water was filled-in shaft of an abondoned coal mine. It flooded the connected passageways and the plaintiff’s mine was destroyed. The court held that there was unnatural use of land on defendant’s part and the doctrine of strict liability was imposed on the defendants

In general life, people are faced with situations where they are infringements of their rights and it needs to be addressed properly. Therefore torts of nuisance, when there is interference in person’s peaceful right to land is there. The tort of negligence, trespass to land and property, assault, battery, product liability in case of defects in the manufactured product, self defence and malicious prosecution are there to protect the interest of individuals.

Current Trends in Torts

There has been current trends in torts such as expansion of privacy rights online and the use of personal data without consent, environmental torts, product liability, medical malpractice, torts in digital age such as cyber-bullying and defamation and mass torts. Reforms in torts are there to prevent inefficiencies and biases in legal systems. For example there has been a cap on damages to limit the amount of money, time limits has been reformed to file a suit, modification of joint liability,

And most importantly the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system. In conclusion, the tort law is the civil liability other than breach of trust and breach of contract, it protects the interests and rights of citizens, the violation of which is wrong. In recent years, there has been many trends in tort law due to digitalization and speedy resolutions.

References