THE LAW OF TORTS

WRONG CIVIL CRIMINAL TORT CONTRACT

Section 2(m) The Limitation Act,1963 Tort is a civil wrong which is not exclusively a breach of contract or breach of trust

Winfied Tortious Liability arises from the breach of a duty primarily fixed by Law:this duty is towards person generally and its breach is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages.
ORIGIN :The word Tort is derived from the Latin term tortum which means to to twist. It includes that conduct which is not straight or lawful,but on the other hand,twisted,crooked or unlawful.

The 'Law of Torts' owes its origin to the Common Law of England. It is well developed in the UK, USA and other advanced Countries. In India, Law of Torts is non

codified, like other branches of law eg: Indian Contract Act, 1872 and Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is still in the process of development.
A tort can take place either by commission of an act or by omission of an act.

The first reported use of the word tort is in Boulton v. Hardy

MEANING: It means a breach of some duty independent of contract giving rise to a civil cause of action and for which compensation is recoverable . It may be observed: A) Tort is a civil wrong :

Tort belongs to the category of civil wrong which is different from criminal wrong.In case of civil wrong, the injured party ie the Plantiff,institutes civil proceedings against the wrongdoer,ie, the defendant. In such a case the main . compensated by the defendant for the injury caused to him by the defendant. In case of a CRIMINAL wrong, the individual,who is the victim of the crime,ie Sufferer, is not compensated.Justice is admistered by punishing the wrong doer. In case of both a Civil and Criminal wrong the remedies would concurrently be available. There would be civil action requiring the defendant to pay

compensation as well as a criminal action awarding punishment to the wrong doer. B) The civil wrong is other than a mere breach of contract or breach of trust.

Identifying Tort 1) Whether the wrong is Civil or Criminal 2) If Civil wrong it has to be seen whether the wrong is due to breach of contract or breach of trust. 3) If the wrong does not belong to breach of contract or breach of trust then we can say that wrong is a Tort . C) This wrong is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages.

Damage is the most important Remedy for a Tort. After the Commission of wrong, it is generally not possible to undo the harm which has already been caused.For example, the reputation of a person has been injured,the original position cannot be restored back. The only thing which can be done in such case is to see what the money equivalent to the harm by the way of defamation and the sun so arrived at is asked to be paid by d defendant to d plaintiff. There are two types of Damages: LIQUIDATED: Means such compensation which has been previously determined or agreed to by the parties.

UNLIQUIDATED : Means when the compensation has not been so determined but the determination of the same is left to the discretion of the court.

AIMS OF TORTS A) To define individuals rights and duties in the light of prevalent standards of reasonable conduct and public convenience. B) Compensation of victim/s or their dependent/s.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN : A) TORT AND CRIME TORT y Civil Wrongs: which are which Less serious. Are more serious. CRIME Public Wrongs :

For example : if a person causes an destruction outside a residential building,as the wrong affects only the residence of the building,it would be considered as a tort of private nuisance.If however, a similar obstruction is caused in d middle of a public road it amount to offence of public nuisance stated in Sec 248 IPC.

Tort is an infringement