Question

In about 500 words discuss whether a person can commit both crime and a tort by the same act.Give examples.

Answer 1

First, let us look at the definition of both these terms. First crime, it is a wrongful act that the state or federal government has identified as a crime. While tort is a wrongful act that injures or interferes with another's person or property. A simple difference would be that a crime involves a public wrong while a tort involves a private wrong. Examples of crimes would be offenses against the person such as assault and battery, murder, and burglary, gambling Offenses, offenses involving controlled substances, or theft and conversion offenses such as trade secret theft, and conversion. In crimes or criminal cases, a criminal proceeding is initiated where the accused is called a 'defendant" and the victim is the person who has been hurt and the charges are brought by the government. If the defendant loses, the defendant must serve a sentence in jail, and in some cases, a fine is paid as well to the government and there is possible restitution to the victim. While a tort's example would be a scenario where a person has been civilly wronged, such as in a car accident that was caused by someone else, he or she may choose to bring a lawsuit against the person who was responsible for the wrongdoing. A tort case is a civil court proceeding where the accused is defined as the "defendant" and the victim is defined as a "plaintiff" who brings in the charges and if the defendant loses, the defendant has to pay damages to the plaintiff.

A person can commit both, a crime and a tort. For example, an assault by an individual generally requires an offensive touching and if someone assaults you, the government may decide to prosecute that person under the criminal law that is applicable and if the state can prove its case then the person is considered guilty of the crime and maybe penalized criminally, which can mean going to jail or fines or both. Apart from this, the person who has been assaulted may decide to bring a civil tort lawsuit against the wrongdoer. The lawsuit would be separate from the criminal proceedings by the government. If you can prove that the person assaulted you win your tort case and that you have suffered damage as a result, you may receive financial damages for the wrongful conduct by the wrongdoer.

The reason for two different legal actions against one wrongful act possible is that in effect, criminal law provides a way of punishing people who commit crimes and is an act created by law or government to protect all citizens from such wrongdoing. Criminal law is in no way concerned with the individual victim. On the other hand, tort provides a way to compensate victims of wrongful acts. Victims of crimes like burglary, rape, and armed robbery rarely sue the wrongdoers, because of practical reasons as if the wrongdoer has no money or property from which to collect, a lawsuit would accomplish nothing.