What Is A Tort?

A tort is a civil wrong that causes either a physical or an emotional injury. The victim of that injury may sue the person who inflicted it and can receive compensation for suffering the resulting harm.

We use the word “civil” to mean “as between persons”. This is a difference between torts and crimes. When someone commits a crime he is both prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished by the state according to its statutory laws. The wrong that he has committed is not only against his victim but also against the populace as a whole. Crimes are committed against society, and the state is the named plaintiff for whom the actual victim offers testimony to prove the charges.

On the other hand, a tort lawsuit is personal between the one who committed the tort and his victim. The purpose behind the civil lawsuit is to return the victim to the same position he was in before the tortious offence was committed. This is usually accomplished by the victim receiving a sum of money from person who committed the tort.

The main difference between tort law and criminal laws is the goal each is intended to accomplish. Criminal law is the law of prevention, punishment, and rehabilitation, whereas tort law is the law of compensation.

Torts are wrongs, by this it is not meant that torts are merely unethical or immoral acts. Rather they are acts that injury personal interests deemed worthy of compensation, moral ideas of right and wrong.

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