(1) A tort is a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability. It involves the defendant's potential for civil liability to the victim for harmful wrongdoing and the victim's potential for compensation. (2) Some torts cause no physical harms but are nonetheless actionable. Courts can recognize new torts. (3) Torts involve the violation of a private legal right, other than a mere breach of contract, which results in damage that the law provides a private remedy for.
(1) A tort is a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability. It involves the defendant's potential for civil liability to the victim for harmful wrongdoing and the victim's potential for compensation. (2) Some torts cause no physical harms but are nonetheless actionable. Courts can recognize new torts. (3) Torts involve the violation of a private legal right, other than a mere breach of contract, which results in damage that the law provides a private remedy for.
(1) A tort is a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability. It involves the defendant's potential for civil liability to the victim for harmful wrongdoing and the victim's potential for compensation. (2) Some torts cause no physical harms but are nonetheless actionable. Courts can recognize new torts. (3) Torts involve the violation of a private legal right, other than a mere breach of contract, which results in damage that the law provides a private remedy for.
(1) A tort is a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability. It involves the defendant's potential for civil liability to the victim for harmful wrongdoing and the victim's potential for compensation. (2) Some torts cause no physical harms but are nonetheless actionable. Courts can recognize new torts. (3) Torts involve the violation of a private legal right, other than a mere breach of contract, which results in damage that the law provides a private remedy for.
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Torts and damages
Book of De Leon
Chapter 1: Introduction
Meaning of tort and tortious act
Tort – A common law expression. French for wrong. “tortus” from latin meaning twisted. Tort is a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability. Tortious act is a wrongful act. It has been defined as the commission or omission of an act done by one, without right, whereby another receives some injury, directly or indirectly, in person, property, or reputation.
Essence of tort.
(1) Defendant’s potential for civil liability – the essence of tort is the defendant’s potential for civil liability to the victim for harmful wrongdoing and correspondingly the victim’s potential for compensation or other relief.
(2) Existence of physical harms, not essential. – Some torts cause no physical harms at all but are nonetheless actionable.
(3) Variations of torts – Many other torts can be describes or named, and in fact courts are free to recognize variations and even to recognize “new torts” at any time.
Definitions of tort.
1. A tort is a wrong independent of contract, or a breach of duty which the law, as
distinguished from a mere contract, has imposed. It is a violation of a private legal right other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied for which a civil action may be maintained.
2. A tort is a legal concept possessing the basic elements of a wrong with resultant injury and consequential damage which is cognizable in a court of law.
3. A tort consists in a violation of a duty imposed by general law or otherwise upon
all persons occupying the relation to each other, which is involved in a given transaction.
4. A tort is an act or omission violative of a private right existing in one or more
persons, whether natural or artificial, which right does not depend directly on the assent of the person or persons owing the relative duty, which directly results in damage to him or them having the right and for which the law undertakes to give an appropriate private remedy to the injured person against the wrongdoer.
5. A tort is the unlawful violation of a private legal right, other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied; or, it may be the violation of a public duty, by reason of which some special damage accrues to the individual.
6. A tort consists in the violation of a right given or the omission of a duty imposed by law. (Naguiat vs. NLRC) Under the definition in Naguiat, the term “tort”, used by the Supreme Court in a number of cases involving quasi-delicts, has the same meaning as tort in common law jurisdictions.
The fundamental concept of a tort is a wrongful act or omission resulting in breach
of a private legal duty (as distinguished from a mere breach of contractual duty) and damage from said breach of duty of such a character as to afford a right of redress at law in favor of the injured party.
Kinds of wrong
1. Wrong is civil when it involves a violation of private legal right. A wrong is
criminal when it is regarded as an offense against the public and penalized by law as a crime or felony
2. Intentional if the defendant is consciously aware that his conduct is wrongful, or
negligent if the defendant does not intend an invasion of plaintiff’s right but is aware that by his behavior, he is taking unreasonable risks.
3. Sometimes courts recognize a third category, placed between intentional and
negligent wrongs – reckless, gross or wanton wrong. It is a species of negligence which imports knowledge and consciousness of the high risk of harm resulting from his conduct as to be equivalent to an intentional wrong.
History of Tort as a legal concept
1. Common law tort – tort law is predominantly common law, that is, judges rather than legislatures usually define what counts as a tort and how compensation is to be measured
2. No clear distinction between tort and crime – a development of anything like a
clearly formulated conception of a tort is comparatively recent.
3. Notion of tort as a specific wrong. – the notion of tort, in a distinct and integral sense, still remained unformulated and the history of tort is to be sought in the history of the various delictual actions which, in conjunction, made up the whole sum of then recognized civil liability for wrongs. 4. Place of torts in Philippine law. – Well developed in the common law of England and America. But it has not received similar attention in the civil law
Two general classes of torts
1) Property torts - they embrace all injuries and damages to property, whether realty or personalty, and
2) Personal torts- they include all injuries to the person, whether the body, reputation, or feelings. A tort which is not an injury to property is a personal tort
“personal injury” denotes primarily an injury to the body of a person, and a personal injury, whether administered intentionally, wantonly or by negligence, constitutes a tort. It may embrace all actionable injuries to the individual himself as distinguished from injuries to his property. Thus personal injury may denote an injury affecting the reputation, character, conduct, and habits of a person.
* fields of tort and contract distinct
- contract duties are created by the promises of the parties, Province is agreements or promises - tort duties are imposed as rules of law. Province of torts is wrongs
