Law of Tort Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law of Tort - Term Paper Example According to Hodgson and Lewthwaite, negligence can be defined as an act of being careless. There are three main elements of negligence in tort. First, a legal duty must exist, secondly, there must be breach of the legal duty and thirdly, damaged must have been suffered because of breach of legal duty. The plaintiff (claimant) must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant owed him or her legal duty of care. Negligence is recognizable in the court of law only where the relationship between the defendant and claimant give rise to the legal duty of care. For example, a doctor who operates on a patient and leaves surgical equipment in the patient’s body is liable for negligence. Statutory torts are civil wrongdoings that have legislative backing. The statutes impose duties to private and public entities that cause the tort to compensate or remedy the injured as defined by law. To be valid, the statute must impose a specified duty on the defendant. For example, if legislati on (statute) imposes a duty on the employer to take care of the employees’ welfare, then the courts always construe the statute as giving rise to a statutory tort. If the employer fails to take care of the employees’ welfare and the employees sustain injuries or suffer losses as a result, the employer (defendant) is guilty of statutory tort and shall compensate the employees as per the requirements of the guiding legislation. Intentional wrongdoing is consciously harming someone to achieve a predetermined objective.