Question

What are the elements of a tort? Explain each.

Answer 1

Before understanding elements of tort law , we first have to understand What is Tort law ?

Tort law is generally every civil lawsuit , in other words tort law signifies that people are liable for consequences of their action , whether done intentionally or non intentionally . Essentially, any civil lawsuit is tort law. The premise behind these laws is to provide compensation to victims of wrongdoings .

For any civil lawsuit to be successful, there needs to be four elements of tort law present and proven in court that are given below :

1) A Duty Of Care - To be successful , tort law must adhere to Duty of care , this means that person or manufacturer must have duty of care during any accidents. For example driver of a car must have a duty of care to drive safely and not indulge in drugs or alcohal. Duty of care is enforceable by law so every person must adhere to it .

2 - Violation of Duty of Care - In above example we've seen the duty of care that driver must follow , if he breached his duty he (intentionally or unintentionally ) is liable for his action.

3 - Causation Behind Suffering/Accident -This part is crucial for a tort case because there needs to be the action that has caused suffering to the victim. In the absence of the cause, there is no case for a tort. The key point any judicial verifies for any suffering is whether or not the victim’s injuries would have occurred . Let's have take driver example again , if driver was drunk, intentionally broke red light and got an accident with another car , which resulted in the other driver becoming permanently brain damaged from the crash, then this would be sufficient causation for a tort.

4 ) Damage or injury - This is most important part of tort law as without any damage or injury there is no basis of tort , Let’s roll with the case of Brian above. The other driver he crashed into must have sustained some sort of injury from his negligent actions. If there is an absence of physical, mental, or emotional damage then driver can't be liable for a tort. It is also important to prove such damages with legitimate proof .

If all the four elements of tort law above are present then a tort has been committed. There are various damages that can be awarded in this instance such as full compensation where the victim must be fully compensated monetarily for his/her suffering.