Chapter 4 Flashcards
purpose of the tort system
is to allocate the economic impact of certain acts deemed to be wrongful and to provide for compensations for those injured by holding liable those responsible in one way or another
purpose of criminal system
has as its purpose deterrence of and punishment for acts deemed to be harmful to society
the law of tort
represents a common law array of remedies designed to allocate the economic impact of undesirable conduct
assign liability; liability determines who will bear the monetary burden of damage resulting from the tortuous conduct
Unintentional torts
negligence
Strict Liability Tort
is neither intentional nor unintentional; it is rather more closely described as automatic, without attention to any matter of intent
Negligence (Unintentional Torts)
deals with instances in which somebody has failed to be careful (careless) and as a result has caused damage to another.
Element of Negligence
- duty
- Breach
- cause
4.Injury
Duty
the plaintiff in a negligence lawsuit must demonstrate that the defendant owed a _____ to him or her
as there is a pervasive _____ with regard to careful behavior that applies to all citizens. The ___ is this all person owe a ___- to all other person to behave in a manner that is reasonable careful.
Malpractice
is thus about carelessness, and not about competency or fitness to engage in the practice of any profession.
Breach
means that the defendant failed to observe that level of care
Cause
it is necessary that the breach causesed an injury
1. Actually Cause
2.Proximity cause
Actual Cause
sometimes called cause of fact
is demonstrated as scientific or physical causation
“but for” standard
but for the breach of duty the injury would have not occurred
does not need to be direct but must be evident
Proximate Cause
is a legal artifice designed to exclude from the tort of negligence improbable or unforeseeable chains of causation.
Injury
is a far-reaching concept, and the negligent defendant may be required to compensate for all damages; such damages are know as c compensatory damages.
there are two types of damages
- Personal Injury
- Property Damagage
Punitive Damages
against a defendant to be paid as deferrence to future persons to stop such actions form happening agains
Comparative Negligence
contemplates the very real possibility that multiple causes contributed to he occurrence of an accident or event, ad that often some part of the total causation package is represented by careless conduct by the plaintiff.
Contributory Negligence
if a plaintiff was responsible for any part whatsoever of the carelessness that contributed to the cause the accident, the plaintiff was barred from any recovery era whatsoever.
Assumption of Risk
holds that if a plaintiff could have acted in a way which would have averted injury caused by the defendant’s negligence, the plaintiff would not recovery compensation.
Superseding Cause
is a defense which works to remove the element of cause forth plaintiff’s proof.
Conversion (intentional torts)
is the civil equivalent of theft.
very similar to the crime of larceny and theft
Assault and Battery (intentional torts)
Assault is the act of putting someone in fear of bodily harm, battery is the actual act of installing bodily harm to anther without privilege or consent.
Intentional Interference with a contract (intentional torts)
creates liability for a person who intentionally acts with regard to tow or more other person to cause one of them to brach a contract to the others or others.
Defamation (intentional tort)
provides compensation when one person wrongfully injures the reputation of another
