Civil Liabilities Torts

        Torts fall into three general categories: intentional torts, negligent torts and strict liability torts.  Intentional torts are those wrongs which the defendant knew or should have known would occur through their actions or inactions such as intentionally hitting a person.  Negligent torts occur when the defendant's actions were unreasonably unsafe such as causing an accident by failing to obey traffic rules.  Strict liability wrongs do not depend on the degree of carefulness by the defendant, but are established when a particular action causes damage such as liability for making and selling defective products).

        When someone intentionally injuries a person or interferes with a person’s property, an intentional tort has been committed.  An intentional tort differs from an unintentional tort in that the perpetrator of an intentional tort intends to bring about a specific result or consequence.  If someone deliberately swings a stick at another person and strikes them in the head resulting in a concussion, an intentional tort has been committed.  One of the largest categories of intentional torts is known as intentional interference with the person and it includes offences such as assault, battery, medical battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution.  Malicious prosecution is the wrongful prosecution of a person without reasonable and probable cause.  Typically, assault is followed by battery, the intentional touching of someone without that person’s consent.  If someone confines you against your will and without legal justification, and you cannot escape, the tort of false imprisonment has occurred.  You do not have to be held in a jail to be falsely imprisoned.  You could be held against your will in someone’s home or vehicle; in a situation so intimidating that you feel you have no option but to stay.  Another example of an intentional tort is if a person spreads a false rumor about you, and as a result, you are asked to resign from your position.  If the accusations are unfounded and cause injury to a person’s reputation, or character, your reputation has been damaged and an intentional tort has taken place.  Intentional torts also include interference with a person’s property.  In most cases, anyone who intentionally enters your property without permission or legal authority is committing the tort of trespass.

        Negligent torts are the most prevalent type of tort.  Examples of a negligent tort can include: motor vehicle accidents, slips or falls, and most medical malpractice cases.  Negligent torts are not deliberate actions, but instead present when an individual or entity fails to act as a reasonable person to someone whom he or she owes a duty to.  The elements which constitute a negligent tort include: a person must owe a duty or service to the victim in question; the individual who owes the duty must violate the promise or obligation; an injury then must arise because of that specific violation; and the injury causes must have been reasonably foreseeable as a result of the person's negligent actions.  A negligent tort can be summed up as an individual's failure to reasonably exercise logical or caring actions.