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TORT (tort)
A
civil wrong, as opposed to a criminal wrong, that is recognized
by law as grounds for a lawsuit.
Common
clues: Civil
wrong; Wrongful act; Legal wrong; Suit material?; Lawsuit basis;
Libel, e.g.; Civil suit cause; Assault or battery
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
2 times a year
Frequency
in English language:
12611 / 86800
News:
Billions
at stake in 'tort war'
Video:
Tort
liabilities in the Incredibles
A
golfer hooked his tee shot over a hill and onto the next fairway.
Walking toward his ball, he found another golfer lying on the
ground, groaning with pain.
"I'm
an attorney," the injured man said, "and this is going
to cost you at least $5000."
"I'm
sorry, I'm really sorry," the concerned golfer replied. "But
I did yell 'fore'."
"I'll
take it!" the attorney exclaimed.
Tort
is a legal term that means a civil wrong, as opposed to a
criminal wrong, that is recognized by law as grounds for a
lawsuit. Unlike voluntarily assumed obligations on the parties
created through a contract, the duties imposed under tort law are
mandatory for all citizens in that jurisdiction. Somebody behaves
'tortiously' when they harm other people's bodies, property, or
legal rights, or breach a duty owed under statutory law.
The
dominant action in tort is negligence, which is used to protect
people's bodies and property, including non tangible economic
interests. There are certain torts that specially protect land,
such as nuisance, which is strict liability for neighbours who
interfere with another's enjoyment of their property. Trespass
allows owners to sue for intentional incursions by people on
their land. There is a tort for false imprisonment, and a tort
for defamation, where someone makes an unsupportable allegation
represented to be factual which damages the reputation of
another. There are statutory torts, creating product liability
and sanctions against anti-competitive companies. The foundation
of labour law in the modern welfare state also begins with tort,
as a means to mitigate conflictual relations between unions and
employers. And now the scope of tort law's application spreads
every day. As Lord MacMillan said, in tort's most famous case,
"the categories of negligence are never closed".
A
decomposed snail in Scotland was the humble beginning of the
modern law of negligence
Negligence
is a tort which targets a breach of duty by one person to
another. One well-known case is Donoghue v. Stevenson where Mrs.
Donoghue consumed part of a drink containing a decomposed snail
while in a public bar in Paisley, United Kingdom. The snail was
not visible, as the bottle of ginger beer in which it was
contained was opaque. As such neither her friend, who bought it
for her, nor the shopkeeper who sold it were aware of its
presence. The manufacturer was Mr. Stevenson, whose ginger beer
business Mrs. Donoghue sued for her consequent illness. The
members of the House of Lords agreed that Mrs. Donoghue had a
valid claim, but disagreed as to why such a claim should exist.
Lord MacMillan, as above, thought this should be treated as a new
product liability case. Lord Atkin argued that the law should
recognise a unifying principle that we owe a duty of reasonable
care to our neighbour. He quoted the Bible in support of his
argument, specifically the general principle that "thou
shalt love thy neighbour." Thus, in the world of law, he
created the doctrine that we should not harm our neighbours.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Tort".
TORT
(176) 31 Tu+ >1 05 Civil wrong
26
Tu+ >1 06 Wrongful act
18
Tu- >1 07 Legal wrong
11
Th- >1 01 Suit material?
6
Th >1 08 Lawsuit basis
6
Fr- NYT 07 Wrong AWRY HARM
4
Tu- >1 04 Cause for a lawsuit
4
We- >1 04 Libel, e.g.
3
Mo+ >1 05 Grounds for a suit
3
We >1 07 Civil suit cause
3
Th- >1 06 Suit material, perhaps
3
Th LAT 04 Assault or battery
3
Fr- >1 07 Slander, e.g.
2
Tu >1 05 Basis of a lawsuit
2
We- >1 09 Reason to sue
2
Th WaP 00 Injury GASH HARM HURT
2
Th CHE 09 Grounds for a lawsuit
2
Th >1 09 Suit basis
2
Fr- LAT 04 It may lead to a suit
2
Fr >1 08 Basis for a suit
99
Breach of contract, e.g.
98
Breach of contract
1
Mo NYT 07 Basis of a suit
1
Mo LAT 99 Legal misdeed
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