Law Essay Sample: Tort Liability

Strict liability tort

A liability is a state whereby one is responsible for something, especially in law. Aside from negligence, and intentional tort, there is a new classification that has emerged in the 19th century due to the growth of sophisticated technology and also increased the involvement of the government in maintaining and regulating this kind of technology. The following has resulted into a text known as strict liability theory that has helped in the emergence of this tort is that particular activities are very dangerous to enhance unique construction, demand, and special treatment. Statute usually sets strict liability tort. Strict liability tort is the potential to create injustice and imposition of accountability without having damages to the dependent.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Strict liability tort is very different from negligence tort because the burden of proof is not a necessity to prove that the damages caused were as a result of the defendants' negligence. The only thing that matters in this tort is that accidents occurred and that the dependent is responsible without any proof. There is usually an assumption in this tort that the defendant who can be the manufacturer or even the supplier was aware of the defect before it reached the plaintiff of creating damages. Therefore the liability will be very strict because the defendant will be convicted even if they were genuinely ignorant of one or two factors that made them commit a crime.

Looking at the origin of strict liability tort is good. It emerged in the 19th century so as to improve the working standards and safety of employees in factories. The tort is mainly used in regulatory offenses so as to enforce social behavior where the community's primary concern is the prevention of harm. An example of a strict liability tort offense is in the case of Whitehouse versus Lemon Cray News. The cases of strict liability tort are usually creators of statutes, construction, and interpretation of this statute. Strict liability follows five principles. One principle is that presumption that men's rea is required. The second principle is that presumption is adamant especially when dealing with an offense that is severely a criminal character as opposed to any other crime that is of a regulatory nature. The third principle is the presumption of men's rea that can only be rebutted where the statute in place is clearly stated, and also it does so because of the necessary implication. The necessary implication, in this case, is an implication which is very clearly stated and is found in the statute, the nature of the offense and the mischief which the statute intends to rectify. The following shows that the court must critically evaluate the purpose of the law.

Presumption as the fourth principle in strict liability tort

The fourth principle is the presumption can be rebutted only when the statute mainly deals with a matter of social concern that involves public safety. The fifth principle is that even in such cases listed above strict liability should be a necessity to the achievement of the goal of the legislation. After discussing the several principles of strict liability, now we will look at the types of strict liability torts. Faults in strict liability cases are not usually an issue. Therefore, proving that damage that has occurred due to a particular activity becomes a major factor of any lawsuit in strict liability tort.

There are three types of strict liability torts which are mainly classified according to a situation. These types of strict liability tort include damages mainly caused by animals owned by the dependent. The animal can be either a domesticated or a wild animal while considering whether a circumstance is a subject or liability. Another strict liability can be caused by abnormal, dangerous activities or hazardous activities that may be held liable for injuries because of this activity. An example of these unusual, harmful activities is, for example, storing explosives, performing controlled burns, disposing hazardous chemical wastes and using certain chemicals like acids. When a defendant is faced with a strict liability civil lawsuit, the defendant may attempt to prove certain situations existed and this may have alleviated him or her of strict liability obligation. Most individuals and companies that have been involved in dangerous activities will try to depend on their liability through the use of disclaimers and waivers; such mechanism may be invalid by the courts who view the following as being against the public policy.

Product liability insurance

Product liability is where a manufacturer or a seller is held liable for placing a defective product in the hands of consumers. The defective product which has caused injury to the users. Product liability is mainly based on the state law and is usually under negligence and strict tort. In a product liability case, the plaintiff has to prove that for sure the product did cause injury and for no reasonable doubt the product is defective.

There are usually three defects that can occur in a product; this is namely; the design defect, manufacturing defect and lastly the marketing defect. Therefore, in a product liability lawsuit, there is need of establishing a legal fault which can be found from the testimonies of experts. Furthermore, every state has its law statutes that will affect the product liability action.

Public nuisance

When we look at problem, there are usually two types of nuisance namely; a public and private nuisance. Public nuisance is a crime which ranges from threatening the safety, comfort, morals, health, and welfare of society. For instance, a manufacturer who owns a company and has polluted the environment might be fined because of this.

Furthermore, some nuisance can be both public and private nuisance. For instance, pollution which affects both the public and an individual. On the other hand, a private nuisance is any activity that can cause unreasonable interference with a person's land and enjoyment of their day-to-day operations. For instance, interference of the physical condition of the property like the destruction of their crops. Some of the defenses that are usually accepted in a nuisance lawsuit are mainly the act of God and also when reason is related to statutory authority whereby if awards. The following can defense from the nuisance lawsuit. Three remedies are usually used when it comes to problem namely; injunction, damages, and abatement. An Injunction is an order to stop the nuisance whereas damages are the money paid to the claimant by the defendant.

Survival of tort action

Survival of tort action is a phrase that means the continuation of a tort action even after the death of the defendant and the plaintiff before the resolution of the tort action. Survival of action is usually allowed in both personal injury and property damages by the statute which is under the common law. Also, most jurisdictions in the law allow the plaintiff to recover for decedent's pain and suffering.

Negligence and wrongful death

When negligence or even misconduct results in someone dying, the victim's surviving members may sue for the wrongful death. Under the common law, there is nothing like a cause of action for wrongful death. The following is because a person who killed another person be it intentional or not intentional, they could be held liable mainly criminally for the death and not for civil responsible.

Some of the elements of wrongful death are primarily the death of a person, caused by another person's negligence, survival of family member of the victim who is suffering and lastly, the appointment of a personal representative for the decedent's estate. Some of the damages in a wrongful death lawsuit are mainly; pecuniary and financial injury. The following means that there is a loss of support, prospect or inheritance, services, and medical expenses. The common law dictates that the damages given for the wrongful death will be fair and just compensation for the pecuniary injuries. Lastly, the cost given will also include the interest from the decedent's death. One aspect one need to know is that the jury is the one that determines the size of the damage reward to be given after hearing the evidence and getting enough proof of the wrongful death.

Furthermore, for the personal injury, the distributees may be able to recover the damages for personal injury to the decedent. The following is mainly because the personal injury action enables the person who suffered the injury to survive. These are known as survival action. In this action, the decedent's conscious suffering and pain, the jury must determine the number of damages to be given to the decedent. The following is through determining the severity of pain, degree of consciousness and apprehension of impending death.

Immunity definition law

Immunity is the exemption of a person or even a state from payments, penalties, duties or even legal requirements that are granted by the statute or the authority. There are several types of immunity namely; immunity from prosecution, sovereign immunity, government tort immunity, official immunity and family immunity. In family resistance, a child can sue a parent because of breach of contract or even torts related to property. However, due to wrong results in the past, the courts can grant the parent immunity to carve out an exception to the rule. For instance, if a child can sue his or her parents because the parents did not provide food for the child, the parent can be prosecuted, however, if the parent was exercising parental authority, then he or she can be granted immunity. When it comes to immunity from prosecution, this can be issued by the state or even the federal states to a witness from prosecution who has valuable information that can be used in court.

Governmental tort immunity is usually applied by the local government or even the federal state as a form of protecting itself from being sued without its consent. Sovereign immunity, on the other hand, prevents a person or even the state from being subjected to suit without its consent. The doctrine mainly used in this immunity is that a nation is immune from the suit in a court of another country. An example of sovereign immunity is where the United States have granted this immunity to the Indian tribes in this nation. Thus they cannot be sued without the consent of the tribe and also the government itself. They were given this immunity because historically they have limited resources than any other government and also the Indian tribe is vulnerable in a lawsuit than any other government.

In tort cases, certain factors grant an individual immunity because of the actions committed by them. The following means that a person did not understand the risks that are related to their effects and can't be held accountable because they were acting on behalf of an entity or even the government.There are also those tort cases that the individual will totally not be able to understand the outcome of their actions not because they are acting on behalf of someone else but because of personal or medical reasons like insanity. Due to this, the immunity which will be granted will include infant protection or even insanity immunity.

What are tort laws

Tort laws are usually governed by very strict statutes of limitation. Statutes of limitation are mainly put forward the time limitation and during which injured individual or party must start action against the person or company that is liable for the injury. A statute of limitations are usually laws that are passed by legislative bodies in the law systems of a country to set the required time after an event has happened within which legal proceedings will or may be commenced. Therefore, statutes of limitation are usually by definition, codified and are not included in the common law. Another aspect of knowing is that this statute of limitation mainly deal with legal disputes like personal injury, breach of oral contract, breach of written contract, property damage and claim against the government agencies.

Furthermore, boundaries of tort law are usually defined by common law and state statutory law. Judges, when interpreting the language of the statute, they usually have a broad range in determining which actions qualify as wrong legally. Some of the remedies of the tort law are that one, the law recognizes torts as civil wrongs and they always allow the injuries individuals to be able to recover their losses. Furthermore, the court after that award complementary damages to the injured people. Also, the injured individuals may bring suit to obtain injunction rather than monetary relief.

In law, no other area has received more attention in the recent decade like the law that surrounds torts. Today, due to the large demand awards that is usually perceived by people especially in areas of negligence and strict liability on a product, there is significant pressure in the restrictions on the availability of such causes of action and also limitations of damages that come from such litigation.The explanation in support of such restrictions named above is that increased litigation in negligence and strict liability and also theoretically significant damage awards are usually steep business growth. In this growth of activity, the legislative involvement has grown, and also political pressure has been applied in support to tort reform.

In conclusion, the tort law has developed primarily through the common law, but due to the growth of pressure for tort reform, this has increased the law of torts which has increasingly become more statutory. The nature of torts will likely prevent it becoming lawful, but the impact of tort law cannot be denied. Today, the practitioners of the torts law must pay close attention to the rapidly changing development of the society today whereas the professionals being involved in the representation of the interest of those individuals who are injured them must work diligently so as to protect the interests and rights of their clients.

References

Green, M., Franklin, M., & Cardi, W. (2008). Gilbert Law Summaries on Torts (24th ed.). West Academic.

White, G. E. (2003). Tort law in America: an intellectual history. Oxford University Press, USA.