Personal Injury: A Brief Definition of a Tort
A tort is a civil wrong which can be redressed by awarding damages. A person is obligated to give compensation or remedy if he or she causes injury to another person or damage to a property. An order of compensation or jail time may be the result of some cases if one violates both civil and criminal law.
Involvement of an unlawful act does not really define a tort. One of the most common cases is car accidents, where one causes physical injury to another person but he or she has no intent to inflict such injury. Still, the person who was driving the car is required to give compensation.
Most of us are required to have liability insurance. This is the type of insurance that doesn’t protect yourself and your properties. It does, however, protect you from being held responsible for other party’s injury or damages. One good example of a person who needs liability insurance is a doctor. Doctors need malpractice insurance in case they get convicted of negligence. This will take care of the payment for the damages.
Different Types of Torts
• Intentional Tort – This is a type of tort wherein a plaintiff needs to prove that the defendant inflicted the injury intentionally.
• Negligence – A type of tort wherein the plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted unreasonably. A lawsuit may be filed because someone failed to do his or her basic duty.
• Strict Liability – A plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted either, intentionally, reasonably, or unreasonably in an activity to which tort law applies strict liability.
Torts and Criminal Law
Many torts are originated in criminal law in common law. However there is still some overlap between crime and tort. The difference that grew up between the two is that criminal actions are normally for punitive purposes and initiated by a public body or their representative. In tort, it is the victim who will initiate any court action and aims to have the mistake compensated by payment for damages or injunctive relief.
Due to the complexity of tort law, many law schools offer a number of courses regarding issues on this law. In the U.S., tort reform is one of the most discussed topics nowadays. It refers to legislative measures that are designed to limit the potential power available to people who take legal actions against companies. GP
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