Tort facts for kids

Tort law is a part of the law that deals with harms people cause to each other, but these harms are not usually crimes or about broken agreements (contracts). It helps people get money (called compensation) if someone hurts them or damages their things. For example, if a driver isn't paying attention and causes a car accident, hurting another driver, that could be a tort. If you get hurt by someone else, you can ask a court to help you get compensation.

Many torts are accidents, like car crashes or slipping on a wet floor and getting hurt. These are called negligent torts, meaning someone wasn't careful enough. But some torts happen on purpose. These are called intentional torts. For instance, if someone purposely punches another person, that could be an intentional tort called battery.

Torts can cause different kinds of harm. Some hurt people physically. Some damage property, like breaking a window. Torts can also harm other things, like someone's good name (reputation) or a business.

The types of torts we're talking about here are part of the common law system. This system is used in England and countries that used to be British colonies, like the United States of America. Other countries, like France or Germany, use a different system called civil law. In those countries, they often use the word delict instead of tort, but it means something very similar.

What is a Tort?

Torts happen when one person or group causes harm to another. The person or group who causes the harm is called a tortfeasor. The person who gets hurt is often called the victim.

The victim can take the tortfeasor to court. The people or groups involved in a lawsuit are called the parties. In a lawsuit, the victim is called the plaintiff. The tortfeasor is called the defendant.

Usually, the plaintiff asks the court to make the defendant pay money to make up for the harm caused. For example, this money might pay for the plaintiff's medical bills if they were hurt in an accident. The money the court orders the defendant to pay is called damages. For some torts, especially those done on purpose, the plaintiff might also ask the court to make the defendant pay extra money as a punishment. This extra money is sometimes called punitive damages.

Sometimes, a plaintiff also asks the court to order the defendant to stop doing something, like polluting the air or water. An order to stop doing something is called an injunction. In the United States, it's sometimes called a restraining order.

Tort law, or The Law of Torts, is a set of rules used by civil courts to help people who have been harmed because someone else did something wrong.

Sometimes, the same action can be both a tort and a crime. For example, stealing someone's property is a criminal offense, but it's also a tort against the person who owns the property. Similarly, punching someone can be both the crime and the tort of battery.

Types of Torts

What are Intentional Torts?

When a defendant causes an injury on purpose, that injury is an intentional tort. Sometimes, an injury can be an intentional tort even if the defendant didn't want it to happen, but they knew it would likely happen. Intentional torts include hitting people or saying things about them that are not true.

What are Unintentional Torts?

Unintentional torts are accidents. They usually happen because someone wasn't careful enough. When someone isn't careful, it's called negligence or recklessness.

An example of negligence is driving a car without paying attention to the road. In a negligence case, the court looks at what happened and decides if the defendant was careful enough. The court will only order the defendant to pay money if they were not careful enough.

Recklessness happens when someone knows their actions could cause a big risk to others' lives or safety, but they don't care about that safety. An example of a reckless act is shooting a gun randomly toward a building where people are. Even if they don't mean to hurt anyone, this action creates a big risk that someone could get hurt or even die.

What is Strict Liability?

In some cases, it doesn't matter if the defendant was careful or not. This is called strict liability or absolute liability. For example, in the United States, if someone buys a soda can and it explodes because it was made badly, the company that made it will probably have to pay the victim money. This is true even if the court finds that the company was as careful as it possibly could be.

What are Physical Torts?

Physical torts are injuries to a person's body. This includes things like hitting someone or making them sick.

What are Abstract Torts?

Abstract torts are harms to a person's mind, reputation, or property. A person's mind or reputation can be harmed by saying things about them that are not true. A person's property can be harmed by taking it without permission or saying it belongs to someone else.

Torts Involving People

Torts that involve people include hitting them, saying untrue things about them, and making them stay in one place when they want to leave. Hitting someone is called battery. Saying things about someone that are not true is called slander, and writing untrue things about someone is called libel. Both slander and libel are types of defamation. When a police officer takes a person to prison when they are not supposed to, that is called false imprisonment or false arrest.

Torts Involving Property

Torts involving property include walking on someone else's property without permission, taking someone else's property without permission, or damaging someone else's property. Walking on someone else's property without permission is called trespassing. Taking someone else's property without permission is called stealing or conversion.

See also

In Spanish: Tort para niños