BLE-214 Lecture 8: Chapter 8 notes
Document Summary
Torts: the body of law that concern torts. A tort is a civil wrong that gives the injured party the right to bring a lawsuit against the wrongdoer to recover compensation for injuries. Purpose of tort law: to compensate innocent persons who are injured, to prevent private retaliation by injured parties, to reinforce a vision of a just society, to deter future wrongs. An assault is often, but not always, followed by a battery: an intentional, unwanted, offensive bodily contact. Almost any unwanted intentional contact institutes a battery, even if harmless, and intent is irrelevant for establishing liability. The most common defense is self-defense, responding to the force of another with comparable force to defend yourself. A third defense, defense of others, is just what it sounds like. A final defense to a claim of battery is defense of property: you can use reasonable force to defend your property from an intruder.
