1. Civil Law and Procedure
Chapter 5

2. How do Crimes and Torts Differ?
Crime—offense against society
A public wrong
Tort—an offense against an individual
A private or civil wrong

3. Elements of a tort Elements of a Tort: Duty Breach of duty Injury
causation

4. Elements of a tort
Duty
By law you have the duty to do or not do something
The duty not to injure another
The duty not to interfere with the property rights of others
The duty not to interfere with the economic rights of others

5. Violation of Duty (Breach of Duty)
Elements of a tort
Violation of Duty (Breach of Duty)
Must be proved before the injured party can collect damages
Intentional
Negligence
Strict liability

6. Elements of a tort Injury
Injury resulting from the breach of duty must be proved
If you act recklessly, but no one gets injured, there usually is no tort

7. Elements of a tort Causation The breach of duty caused the injury
Degrees of causation
Proximate cause—the amount of causation need to be recognized by law

8. Responsibility for another’s torts
Vicarious Liability
When one person is liable for the tort of another
Examples:
Parents who give their children “dangerous instrumentalities,” such as guns, without proper instruction
Continuous dangerous habits—children who continue to throw rocks at trains and vehicles

9. Intentional torts Intentional Torts
Torts in which the defendant possessed the intent or purpose to inflict the resultant injury
There are nine common intentional torts

10. Intentional torts Assault
When one person intentionally puts another in reasonable fear of an offensive or harmful bodily contact
Threat can be made with words or gestures
Threat must be believable
Threat can be physical
Threat can be offensive

11. Intentional torts Battery Harmful or offensive touching
Examples: Shooting, pushing in anger, spitting on, or throwing a pie in another’s face
Must be intentional

12. Intentional torts False Imprisonment
Intentional confinement of a person against the person’s will and without lawful privilege
Examples: handcuffed; locked in a room, car, or jail; told in a threatening way to stay in one place; or otherwise denied their liberty

13. Intentional torts Defamation
A false statement that injures another’s reputation or good name
Slander—spoken
Libel—written
The statement must be:
False
Communicated to a third person
Bring the victim into disrepute, contempt, or ridicule by others

14. Intentional torts Invasion of Privacy
Uninvited intrusion into an individual’s personal relationships and activities
May cause outrage, mental suffering, or humiliation
Includes:
Freedom from unnecessary publicity regarding personal matters
Freedom from commercial exploitation of one’s name, picture, or endorsement without permission
Bans illegal eavesdropping by any listening device

15. Intentional torts Trespass to Land
Entry onto the property of another without the owner’s consent
May consist of other forms of interference with the possession of property:
Dumping garbage on the land of another
Breaking the windows of a neighbor’s house
Must show intent

16. Intentional torts Conversion (theft)
Intentionally stealing, destroying, or using another person’s property in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights
Can occur even when the converter doesn’t know that there is conversion
Buying stolen merchandise

17. Intentional torts Interference with Contractual Relations
a defendant is liable to pay damages in tort for actions intended to interfere with the plaintiff's contractual relations with a third party
the burden is on the plaintiff to prove the elements of the claim rather than on the defendant to prove that its acts were justified.
To prevail on the claim, plaintiff must prove four elements:
that a valid contract existed
that defendant had knowledge of the contract
that defendant acted intentionally and improperly
that plaintiff was injured by the defendant’s actions

18. Intentional torts Fraud
An intentional representation of an existing important fact (a lie)
Misrepresentation must be relied on and cause the victim to part with a legal right or something valuable
Opinions are not considered fraudulent

19. negligence Negligence—most common tort
Only carelessness is required for negligence
Duty imposed by negligence:
Reasonable person standard
Required to act with the care, prudence, and good judgment of a reasonable person so as not to cause injury to another
Children are required to act with the care that a reasonable child of like age, intelligence, and experience would act UNLESS they are performing and adult activity: driving a car or boat
Professionals and skilled tradespeople are held to a higher standard

20. negligence Breach of Duty Causation and Injury
Defendant’s conduct is compared to that of a reasonable person
Causation and Injury
Violation of the duty must be the cause of the injury

21. negligence Defenses to Negligence
Contributory negligence—plaintiff contributed to their own injury
Plaintiff cannot collect damages
Comparative negligence—plaintiff is partially at fault (substituted for contributory negligence in most states)
Plaintiff is awarded reduced damages based on the amount of fault
Assumption of risk—aware of danger but subject yourself to it anyway

22. Strict liability Strict Liability
Liability that exists even though the defendant is (or was) not negligent
Makes the defendant liable if he/she engaged in a particular activity that resulted in injury.
Proof of the activity and the injury substitutes for proof of a violation of duty

23. Examples of Strict Liability
Engaging in abnormally dangerous activities—Examples: Target practice, Blasting, Crop dusting with dangerous chemicals, storing flammable liquids in large quantities
Ownership of dangerous animals
Sale of goods that are unreasonably dangerous—defective goods

24. Strict liability
Who is liable?
Manufacturer
Sellers
Distributors

25. Remedies available in a civil suit
Injunction
A court order for a person to do or not to do something
Damages
Monetary award to the injured party to compensate for loss
Purpose: to place the injured party in the same financial position as if the injury had not occurred
Types:
Compensatory—compensate for loss
Punitive—punish the wrongdoer