 Stanford Dictionary defines tort as “any private

or civil wrong by act or omission for which a

civil suit can be brought, but not including breach
of contract.”
 Gilbert Kodilinye in Tort, Text, Cases &
Materials defines a tort broadly as “a civil wrong
involving breach of a duty fixed by law, such
duty being owed to persons generally and its
breach being redressed primarily by an action for
damages”
 Peter Kaye in An Explanatory Guide to The English Law
of Torts defines the law of torts as “ the imposition of non-
criminal legal responsibility upon the person by the state,
non-dependent upon parties contractual agreement.
 According to Winfield & Jolowicz on Tort, 14th Edition by
W.V.H. Rogers - “tortious liability arises from the breach of
a duty primarily fixed by law; this duty is towards persons
generally and its breach is redressable by an action for
unliquidated damages.”
 The law of tort can be said to have the following main objectives
 Compensation of persons who have been harmed/injured by the
tortious acts of others
 Deterring others from committing tortious acts and thereby
preventing the recurrence of tortious acts
 Aid the administration of the criminal law – prosecutions for a
felony must precede an action in tort on the same facts –Rule in
Smith v. Selwyn.
 The punishment of persons who commit tortious liability as in
some instances such as in the tort of false imprisonment and
malicious prosecution the court has the power to award exemplary
damages which has a punitive aim.
 The interests which the law of tort seek to protect are outlined
below – (See Street on Torts, 9th Edition by Margaret
Brazier, Chapter 1)
 Intentional invasion of personal and proprietary
interests.
 Interests in economic relations , business and trading
interests
 Interests in intellectual property
 Negligent interference with personal, proprietary and
economic interests
 Protection of reputation
 Protection from malicious abuse of the judicial process.
 The Law of Tort aims to protect the person from:
 Deliberately inflicted physical harm and restriction on
freedom of movement. Torts which have this specific
aim include the tort of trespass to person, assault,
battery and false imprisonment. (Intentional invasion
of personal interests)
 Deliberate interference with land. Law recognises each
person’s right to non-interference with his land and
goods- Tort of trespass to goods, trespass to land.
 Torts which seek to protect economic relations,
business and trading interests include the tort of
deceit, passing off, inducement of breach of
contract, conspiracy and intimidation
 The tort of breach of confidence protects a
patient’s right to confidentiality from his doctor
as much as a multinational company’s right to
protection of their trade secrets.
 The above deals with careless or reckless
intereference with personal , properietary
interests as opposed to deliberate interference.
 This includes torts such as negligence, occupiers
liability etc
 The torts of nuisance and the rule in Rylands v.
Fletcher (1866) L.R. 1Ex. 265 reflects this interest
 Strict liability torts also reflect the protection of the
above interests.
 Strict liability refers to torts where the defendant is
liable even though the damage to the plaintiff
occurred without intention or negligence on the
Defendant’s part. Examples of strict liability –
liability for dangerous animals and the rule in
Rylands v. Fletcher.
 The law of torts seeks to protect the individuals
interest in their reputation via the Defamation
 The law of tort recognises the individual’s right
to be protected from malicious abuse of judicial
process. This is achieved through the tort of
malicious prosecution and false
imprisonment.
 Negligence
 Occupiers liability
 Strict liability torts - liability for animals, Rule in Rylands v. Fletcher
 trespass against the person
 assault and battery
 Economic Torts ie intimidation, conspiracy, or inducement of breach of
contract
 Torts which aim to protect interests in land ie – The torts of trespass to
land and nuisance
 Torts which aim to protect reputation by striking a balance between the
public’s interest in free speech and freedom to criticize on the one hand
and the individual citizen’s desire for privacy on the other hand- the tort
of defamation, libel and slander
 Torts can be distinguished from crime and
contract using the following criteria:
 It’s objective/purpose/aim
 The source of the duties/rights of the parties to legal
proceedings
 The nature of the legal proceedings for determining
liability
 The remedies/ sanctions available in the legal
proceedings
 The standard of proof
 TORT
 
Aim – primary aim is to compensate
persons harmed by the wrongful conduct of
others
 
Nature of proceedings – civil suit is
instituted by the party wronged for
compensation for the damages suffered
as a result of the tort.

Remedy /Action Taken By Court -
Monetary damages is the usual remedy
for a tort. Another remedy in
injunctive relief to prevent a
threatened wrong or continuation f an
existing state of affairs amounting to a
tort.

Standard of Proof – to succeed in civil
proceedings in tort the Claimant must
prove his case “on a balance of
probabilities “
 CRIME
Aim – to protect the interest of the public
at large by punishing those found guilty of
crimes
Nature of Proceedings – Criminal
prosecution instituted by the state for
the trial of the accused. The
Crown/State has an interest in
prosecuting all criminal offenses. The
Crown does not have this interest in
torts unless the tort was committed
against it.

Remedy / Action Taken By Court – If
the accused is convicted the court
usually imposes a term of
imprisonment and or a fine.

Standard of Proof – To succeed in a
criminal trial the prosecution must
prove its case “Beyond a Reasonable
Doubt”
 TORT  CONTRACT
  Aim – primary aim is to compensate through
Aim – primary aim is to compensate persons
harmed by the wrongful conduct of others. Aim the award of damages however the aim of the
of the award of damages is to put the Claimant damages here is different. Aim of damages here
in the position he would have been in had the is to put the Claimant in the position he would
tort not been committed. The aim of tort is to have been in had the contract been performed.
protect the status quo . The aim is to fulfil the Plaintiff’s expectation of
 benefit from the contract .
Nature of legal proceedings – civil suit is 
instituted by the party wronged for Nature of Proceedings - Civil suit is instituted
compensation for the damages suffered as a by the innocent party for compensation
result of the tort.  Remedy /Action Taken By Court – remedy not
 Remedy /Action Taken By Court - Monetary limited to damages but includes specific
damages is the usual remedy for a tort. In performance, prohibitory and mandatory
certain cases injunctive releif. injunction, declarations, rescission or
 rectification.
Standard of Proof – to succeed in civil 
proceedings in tort the Claimant must prove his Standard of Proof – On a balance of
case “on a balance of probabilities “ probabilities
 TORT
 Source of Duties/Rights of Parties –
duties of the parties are primarily fixed by law
namely common law/case law and legislation
ie the Occupiers Liability Act, The Nuisance
Act etc . The duty in tort is said to be “in rem”
meaning it is owed to persons generally.
 Note however that some duties in tort can be
varied by agreement for example the duties
owed by an occupier of premises to his
visitors. Liability can also be excluded under
by consent – under the doctrine of “volenti non
fit injuria”.
 Parties need not be in a legal relationship at the
time the tort is committed. No legal
relationship in the sense of a contractual
relationship need exist for the innocent party to
seek compensation
 CONTRACT
 Source of Duties/Rights of Parties – duties
and rights of the parties are fixed by the parties
to the contract themselves . The duty in
contract is said to be “in personam” meaning
owed to a specific person or persons.
 Note however there are some exceptions where
the law imposes terms into the contract ie
landlord and tenant relationship- Rent
Restriction Act ; consumer protection and
consumer credit - Sale of Goods Act and Hire
Purchase Act.
 As a general rule only parties to the contract
may sue upon it to enforce their rights and the
obligations of other parties to the contract –
party bringing suit must generally have privity
of contract.
 Tort shares with crime the feature of state imposition of
liability.
 Although there are distinctions between tort law and criminal
law some torts particularly trespass have strong historical
connections with criminal law.
 Some torts are also crimes/offences- for example assault,
battery, false imprisonment.
 In addition some conduct can be both criminal and tortious for
example A steals B’s bicycle. A is guilty of the crime of
theft/larceny as well as the tort of conversion. If A wilfully
damages the goods he will be guilty of the tort of trespass to
chattels as well as the offence/crime of malicious destruction of
property.
 See the Rule in Smith v. Selwyn[1914] 3 K.B. 98
 Note that tort shares with contract the element of
compensation as a remedy.
 Sometimes a wrongful act may be both a tort and
a breach of contract for example if A has
contracted to transport B’s goods and due to A’s
negligence the goods are lost or damaged A will
be liable to B for breach of the contract of
carriage and for the tort of negligence.
 Damnum Sine Injuria - “damage without legal
injury”. Cannot sue to recover damages in tort unless the
damage amounts to a legal injury. If the Defendant’s act is in
itself lawful , cannot sue to recover damages caused by same
however great. Need a cause of action in order to sue for
damages.
 Injuria Sine Damno – “legal injury without damage”.
In order to succeed in tort the Plaintiff must not only establish
a cause of action- a legal injury but must also prove that he
has suffered damage.
 Intention and negligence – For most torts it must be
shown that the defendant’s invasion of the Plaintiff’s rights
was either intentional or negligent with the exception of strict
liability torts.
 Negligence differs from intention in that intention denotes a
desire for the consequences of the act, whereas if the
Defendant is negligent he does not desire the consequences of
his act but is indifferent or careless as to the consequences.
 Negligence in the law of tort has two meanings ;
 The independent tort of negligence
 A mode of committing certain torts such as trespass or nuisance
 See Street on Torts, 9th Edition, by Margaret
Brazier - Chapter 31 pages 575 - 579
 There are three broad categories of circumstances
where one person may suffer damage as a result
of torts committed by two or more defendants:
 Joint tortfeasors
 Several concurrent tortfeasors
 Several tortfeasors causing different damage
 In this category are the following:
› Employer and employee in those cases where the
employee is vicariously liable for the tort of the employee.
› Where one person instigates another to commit a tort . Ash
v. Hutchinson & Co. Limited [1936] 1 All ER 1496 CA
› Where there is a breach of duty imposed jointly on two or
more persons
› Where persons take “concerted action to a common end”
and in the course of executing that joint purpose, any of
them commits a tort , all of them are joint tortfeasors. See
Brooke v. Bool [1928] 2 KB 578; Scarsbrook v. Mason
[961] 3 All ER 767
 Several or separate or independent tortfeasors
are of two kinds either:
 Those whose tortious acts combine to produce the same
damage ( several concurrent tortfeasors) or
 Those whose acts cause different damage to the same
plaintiff.(Several tortfeasors)
 See Drinkwater v. Kimber [1952] 2 QB 281;
[1952] 1 All ER 701- where a passenger in a motor car
was injured in a collision between that car and another.
Morris LJ said that the two drivers both of whom were
negligent were seperate tortfeasors whose concurrent acts
caused injury to the female plaintiff.
 Thompson v. London County Council [1899] 1
QB 840 – The plaintiff’s house was damaged when its foundation
subsided. This was caused by negligent excavation by D1 and D2 a water
company negligently allowing water to escape from their main.
 Where two or more persons not acting in
concert cause different damage to the same
plaintiff, they are treated differently in law from
joint tortfeasors and several concurrent
tortfeasors.
 In clear cases the two defendants inflict quite
separate harm on the plaintiff. For example D1
breaks P’s arm and D2 fractures his skull – D1 is
answerable for the damage to the arm and D2 to
the skull.
 Note that the court will not hold each defendant
liable for the entire damage but will endeavour to
ascertain the respective contributions to the harm
made by each defendant and failing that they will
appportion the loss equally between them.
 Concurrent tortfeasors whether joint or several are
each answerable in full for the whole damage caused
to the plaintiff; other several tortfeasors are only
answerable for that damage which each has caused.
 Satisfaction by any concurrent tortfeasor discharges
the liability of all the others whereas satisfaction by a
several non-concurrent one does not.
 There is in general a right to contribution in the
case of concurrent tortfeasors, but not in respect
of other tortfeasors.
 A release under seal or a release by way of
accord and satisfaction in respect of one joint
tortfeasor discharges the others, but does not
have this effect in the case of several concurrent
tortfeasors.
 See Gilbert Kodilinye –Commonwealth
Caribbean Tort Text Cases and Materials.
 Jamaica was acquired by conquest not by
settlement.
 By the Interpretation Act sec. 41 all laws and
statutes of England prior to 1727 were received
as part of the laws of Jamaica.
 This will be dealt with in detail later in the course
and in Tort II. We will look at the general
defences briefly in passing here:
 Volenti Non Fit Injuria (Consent) – Voluntary
Assumption of risks
 Inevitable Accident
 Necessity
 Contributory Negligence
 Exclusion of Liability in Tort
 Limitation of Actions