LAW 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Liability Insurance, Punitive Damages, Strict Liability
15 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
A tort is a failure to fulfill a private obligation imposed by law. It includes almost every sort of private law wrong outside of breach of contract. Tortfeasor is a person who commits a tort. The social purpose is to discourage people from committing wrongs by requiring them to compensate & restore the wronged party. It occurs when a person breaks a private obligation, whereas a crime occurs if a person breaks a public obligation, which is owed to society rather than an individual. These 2 concepts often arise from the same facts. For example, if someone hits another person, they committed the tort of battery and the crime of assault. The following are similarities and differences between torts and contracts: Structure both involve primary and secondary obligation. Primary tell people how they ought to act. Secondary are remedial, they tell people how they must act after primary obligations have been broken.
