BU231 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Contributory Negligence, Product Liability, Subrogation
Document Summary
Tort: a wrongful act causing harm to a person of the property of another. The purpose of tort law is to compensate for the losses of victims for harm caused by the activities of others. Typically if the punishment is a criminal act, then the individual committing the crime is subject to criminal law punishment as well as tort compensation. I. e. neighbour punches other neighbour in the face, he is subject to the tort of battery and government may charge him with criminal offence of assault causing bodily harm. Tort law is one way of apportioning loss, similar to insurance companies. Strict liability was the earliest developmental stage for tort law. There was no care for fault or reasoning behind why the person committed tort. Then the law started recognizing fault and negligence. Therefore early tort law developed in two ways: the law took into account the fault of the defendant and it also took into account causation (negligence).
