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Sources of Tort Law

The document discusses the sources of tort law, including its origins in England after the Norman Conquest and development through common law precedents set in historical cases. It outlines the three major types of torts and defines negligence, intentional torts, and strict liability. Key cases discussed include Ashby v. White, Rylands v. Fletcher, and Donoghue v. Stevenson.

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73 views4 pages

Sources of Tort Law

The document discusses the sources of tort law, including its origins in England after the Norman Conquest and development through common law precedents set in historical cases. It outlines the three major types of torts and defines negligence, intentional torts, and strict liability. Key cases discussed include Ashby v. White, Rylands v. Fletcher, and Donoghue v. Stevenson.

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SING ALONG
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© © All Rights Reserved
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SOURCES OF TORT LAW

This article is written by Gaurav Lall pursuing BBA LL.B. (Hons.) at United World School
of Law. You can follow me on my LinkedIn account https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-
lall-b284901ab/. The article speaks about a brief introduction about tort and the origin of tort
with different cases.
SOURCES OF TORT LAW

INTRODUCTION

A tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, for which a remedy may be obtained,
usually in the form of damages. The three major types of torts are intentional torts,
negligence torts, and strict liability torts. A person suffering legal damage may be able to
utilize tort law to receive compensation for those injuries from someone who is legally guilty
or liable. For example, if a surgeon tasked to cut off a patient’s left leg commits medical
malpractice by instead cutting off her right leg, that patient may be able to pursue a tort
lawsuit for monetary damages against the surgeon. Traditionally, with a few significant
exceptions, tort law has primarily been a matter of state rather than federal law. Tort law has
also historically been a matter of common law rather than statutory law; i.e, judges developed
many of the fundamental principles of tort law through different cases adjudication. The three
purposes of the tort law are: The first is compensating the victim, the second is punishing the
wrongdoer and the third is deterring harmful activities.
 Intentional Tort:
An intentional tort is when any person or entity purposely engages in conduct that causes
injury or damage to another.
 Negligence:
There is a specific code of conduct which every individual is expected to follow and a legal
duty of the public to act a certain way in order to reduce the risk of harm to others.
 Strict Liability:
Strict liability applies to cases where responsibility for an injury can be inflicted on the
wrongdoer without proof of negligence or direct fault.
.ORIGIN OF TORT LAW
Preceding 1066, the French William the Conquerors of Norman success of England, the legal
framework was to some degree aimless, which was carried out on a case-by-case basis more
or less. After 1066, so as to ingest those town laws that had created more than two centuries,
famous judges were assigned to travel about a given region. These appointed judges,
benefiting by this information, noted and implemented statutes that they considered most
impartial in their own court findings. In time, these cases became what is presently called
lawful points of reference when referred to often enough.
The law of Tort came to India, through England. After the Norman Conquest, French turned
the spoken language in England’s judiciary and thus many of the English laws specialized
terms owe their origin to French and tort is one of them. The term ‘tort’ depends on the
concept that there are certain rights for everyone in society. The purpose of this tort law to
enforce rights and obligations.
Sessions during which these judges oversee trials were named ‘assizes’ or, in modern terms,
‘sittings’. The place from which a judge makes decisions and sentences is called ‘the bench’
even now. Once these precedents were established, they were expected to apply equally to
every citizen, from a ruler to a serf, resulting in the term common law.
In the 14th century, the word ‘negligent’ appeared in writs of trespass to denote neglectful
conduct:
Cok v Durant [1377], No reference to an endeavour, but London’s custom required
everyone to protect his fire safe so that his neighbour was not injured. Note the utilization of
the word “neighbour” in the tort of negligence has a particular reverberation.
Beaulieu v Finglam [1401], First reference to “real custom.” Note the use of the term
“custom”: ideas of custom, tradition, and precedent are all essential to common law belief
and practice.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TORT
1. It is a civil wrong.
2. It arises from breach of duty.
3. It is different from the breach of contract and breach of trust.
4. It is different than a criminal wrong.
5. It is remedied by unliquidated damages.
CASE LAWS

ASHBY V. WHITE (1703)


In this case, the defendant, a returning officer wrongfully refused to register a duly tendered
vote of the plaintiff. The candidate for whom the vote was tendered was elected and no loss
was suffered by the rejection of the vote. The Court held that action is allowed on the ground
that the violation of the plaintiff's statutory right was an injury for which he must have a
remedy and is actionable without proof of actual damage.
RYLANDS V FLETCHER (1868)
Facts: The defendant built a reservoir on his land. The water which accumulated in the
reservoir entered an old mine shaft and flooded the plaintiff's mine. It was not foreseeable
that this would happen.
Held: The defendant was liable even though the damage was not foreseeable. Judge against
criteria on the previous slide.
DONOGHUE V STEVENSON (1932)
A, purchase a bottle of ginger beer from a retailer for the appellant, a lady friend after the
consumption she found a decomposed body of a snail in her glass she severely suffered in her
health the bottle was dark opaque glass and closed with a metal cap so its inside part was not
visible she bought an action against the manufacturer for damages.
The defendant pleaded that-
1. He did not indebted any duty of care towards the plaintiff.
2. The plaintiff was unfamiliar to the contract and her action was, therefore, not
reasonable.
But all these defenses were denied and defendant was held liable for the negligence.
CONCLUSION
A tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, for which a remedy may be obtained,
usually in the form of damages. A tort allows an individual, the victim, to obtain a remedy
that serves their own purposes. The origin of tort law were carried out by the judges
depending upon various cases that derives from the citizens or the society.

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