One of the more common terms of reference that you often here in personal injury cases is “tort law.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the terminology, a tort is defined in legal dictionaries as “a civil wrong or wrongful act, whether intentional or accidental, from which injury occurs to another.” This includes personal injury cases involving the careless or negligent behavior of a defendant as well as cases where one individual intentionally causes harm to another.
Furthermore, tort law is an area of the law that“deals with the wrongful actions of an individual or an entity that causes injury or harm to another individual’s or entity’s person, property, or reputation and which can entitle the injured party to compensation for the damage done.” Additionally, the injuries a person sustains may not be physical in nature. They can be emotional, financial, or reputational in nature or be a violation of a person’s constitutional or personal rights, their privacy, or their property.
Compensation in Tort Cases
In civil tort or personal injury cases, the amount of compensation a person receives is based on damages or determining what a person’s injuries have cost them emotionally, financial, mentally, and physically. The most common types of damages awarded in a personal injury case may include:
• Emotional distress
• Hospital and medical expenses (current and potential future care)
• Loss of companionship/consortium
• Loss of earning potential
• Loss of enjoyment
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering
• Property loss
The different Types of Torts
According to Canada’s Constitution, the most common forms of torts include:
• assault
• battery
• defective product injuries / product liability claims
• negligence
• trespassing
Furthermore, as any personal injury lawyer in Edmonton knows there are defamation, economic, nuisance, and privacy torts as well. Tort laws today are divided into 3 different categories:
• Intentional torts – a deliberate act or desperate attempt to cause a person harm by someone who knows the laws
• Negligent torts – negligent actions or behavior that could’ve been avoided yet caused harm to another person
• Strict liability torts – actions or behavior of the at-fault person that inflicts damage or harm to another, despite a lack of evidence to support the claim
Whenever you sue another individual or entity under Canada’s tort laws, you could be entitled to significant compensation for damages. Under Constitutional Law, damages are awarded to the injury victim (plaintiff) to make them financially whole again. These damages are compensatory, and in some cases, punitive in nature. For additional information regarding damages in a tort claim, you should discuss your circumstances with a personal injury lawyer. They have handled such cases in the past and understand it best. Thus, they will be able to represent your rights well.