Understanding Torts and Crimes: Key Differences and Legal Implications
1. Defining Tort
Various legal experts have defined tort as follows:
a. Salmond
A tort is a civil wrong that leads to an action for damages, distinct from breaches of contract, trust, or equitable obligations.
b. Fleming
“A tort is a civil wrong, excluding breaches of contract, for which the law provides redress through damages.”
c. Frederick Pollock
Tort law encompasses various liabilities with shared characteristics, enforced through similar legal processes and subject to similar exceptions.
d. Clerk and Lindsell
A tort is a wrong independent of contract, remedied through common law action.
e. Fraser
A tort is an infringement of a private individual’s right, granting compensation to the injured party.
2. Defining Crime
A crime is an act violating duties owed to the community, with legal consequences for the offender. It involves acts or omissions against the law.
3. Key Differences Between Tort and Crime
i. Proceedings
Tort and crime involve distinct legal proceedings. As Salmond noted, civil proceedings in tort aim to enforce rights, while criminal proceedings seek to punish the accused.
ii. Nature of Wrong
Crime is a public wrong, with cases filed on behalf of the state, while tort is a private wrong requiring the injured party to initiate action.
iii. Remedy
In criminal cases, compensation is secondary to punishment, while in tort cases, it is the primary objective. Exemplary damages in tort cases serve a punitive purpose but are restricted to avoid introducing criminal elements into civil law.
Crimes are remedied through punishment, while torts are addressed through actions for unliquidated damages. Crimes are offenses against the community, leading to punishment for the offender and deterrence for others. Torts, as civil wrongs, aim to compensate the injured party and restore them to their previous state as much as possible.