Saenaa Tayssir
What are torts? What is the purpose of tort law? In your answer refer to any of the
tort law case we have looked and explain their significance.
The word « tort » has Germanic origins, it means fines for injuries. This system emerged
when there was wrongdoing between citizens. During the Norman Conquest, they incorporated
these elements of fines for harm. Thus, torts means wrongdoings that are done by one party against
another. The injured person may take civil action against the other party to recover damages. We
can say that a tort is a breach of civil duty owed to someone else. Therefore, the purpose of tort law
is to compensate the injured party. Punitive damages may be awarded if the defendant’s behavior
was intentional or grossly negligent. Torts are generally created by the common law but there are
also statutory wrongs which amount to torts.
There are three types of torts : Intentional torts which are torts caused by someone to
intentionally harm someone else, Negligence, when you unintentionally cause injury to someone in
a situation where you should have known your action could cause harm and Strict liability torts
which is when the responsibility for an injury can be imposed on the wrongdoer without proof of
negligence or direct fault.
For the intentional torts there is the torts, trespass to the person such as battery, assault, false
imprisonment, internal infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, defamation which is
tarnishing someone’s reputation by making accusation against somebody without evidence, deceit
which means making a false representation of a fact, and improper use of legal procedure. There
are also the torts dealing with property such as trespass to land, nuisance which are an activity or
condition that is harmful or annoying to others such as indecent conduct, a rubbish heap or a
smoking chimney. The term nuisance can also describe the harm caused. Moreover, there are
trespass to chattels which is an intentional interference with another’s personal property without
consent or privilege and conversion which is when someone converts property for his/her own use.
Other type of torts that we can mention is negligence even though it is an intentional tort. You are
negligent if you unintentionally cause injury to someone in a situation where you should have
known your action could cause harm. The plaintiff must prove these elements : a breach or absence
of duty of care which is the social responsibility to ensure that your actions do not hurt somebody
else. The causation and the damages, which means that the plaintiff has suffered loss or injury as a
result of the tort must be proven too. We can take the case of McGhee v. National Coal Board
(1972) as an example of negligence. Mr. McGhee is a coal worker who contracted a skin disease
from not being able to shower at work. Initially, the National Coal Board was found not liable. But
later, yes. The lack of showers contributed enough to increasing the probability of contracting this
disease. Thus, this case was significant because the ‘‘but for’’ could not be proven, but it seemed
reasonable to the judges, that for a coal company, there should be showers.
Last are torts involving strict liability. The action that happened must be responsible for the injury
of another person. The most telling example is that of defective manufactured goods. Indeed the
company is held responsible for the safety and security of the product. The defendant is strictly
reliable for the damage when it is a dangerous activity such as transportation and storage of
hazardous substances, blasting, and keeping certain wild animals in captivity.
To conclude, tort law plays a major role in the preservation of rights and justice for citizens who
have suffered an injury or a damage.
