Nature and definition of tort

LUG-101 Law of Torts including Motor Vehicle Accident and Consumer Protection Act, Unit I: Nature and definition of tort. · LLB · 60 min

What a tort is: the word and its origin, the definitions of Salmond, Winfield, Fraser and Clerk and Lindsell and the statutory definition in s. 2(m) of the Limitation Act 1963, tort as a civil wrong redressed by unliquidated damages, why every tort is a civil wrong but not every civil wrong is a tort, the Winfield-Salmond debate on "law of tort or law of torts", legal right and legal duty, the wrongful act, torts actionable per se and the objects of the law of torts. It answers the definition and nature questions of 2017-18 (A1, A8, A15), 2019-20 (A1, B1), 2023-24 (Q1(a), Q2(c), Q2(e)) and 2024-25 (Q1(a)(i)).

Objectives

Explain the origin of the word tort and quote the definitions of Salmond, Winfield, Fraser, Clerk and Lindsell and s. 2(m) of the Limitation Act 1963.
Identify the elements common to the definitions: a civil wrong, breach of a duty fixed by law, unliquidated damages, not exclusively a breach of contract or trust.
Explain why all torts are civil wrongs but all civil wrongs are not torts.
Present both sides of the Winfield-Salmond debate on the law of tort or the law of torts.
Define legal right, legal duty and wrongful act, and explain torts actionable per se.
State the objects and functions of the law of torts in India today.

Slides

The word 'tort' and the idea behind it
Definitions by the jurists
The statutory definition: s. 2(m), Limitation Act 1963
Essential features drawn from the definitions
All torts are civil wrongs, but not all civil wrongs are torts
Law of tort or law of torts? (Winfield v. Salmond)
Legal right and legal duty
The wrongful act (act or omission)
Torts actionable per se and torts actionable on proof of damage
Objects and functions of the law of torts

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