Documentation:Torts

COMMON LAW TORTS WIKI Exploring the (Canadian) common law of torts TORT LAW CASEBOOK Introduction Dignitary Torts Defamation • Discrimination • Harassment • Intentional infliction of mental suffering • Invasion of privacy • Trespass to the person Property Torts Interference with goods • Interference with land • Non-natural use of land • Private nuisance • Public nuisance Negligence Tort Duty of care • Breach of duty • Damage • Causation • Remoteness Negligence Categories Employment • Environmental pollution • Harmful products • Hosting patrons and guests • Infliction of mental injury • Misrepresentation • Occupation of premises • Professional services • Public authorities • Pure economic loss • Relational economic loss • Rescuers • Shoddy goods or structures • Treatment of indigenous children • Unborn children Dishonesty & Abuse of Position Torts Abuse of process • Breach of confidence • Conspiracy • Fraud • Inducing breach of contract • Injurious falsehood • Intimidation • Malicious prosecution • Misfeasance in public office • Passing off • Spoliation • Unlawful interference with economic interests Strict Liability Keeping dangerous animals • Non-natural use of land • Ultrahazardous activities • Vicarious liability Defences Apportionment of liability • Consent • Defamation defences • Defence of property • Denials • Excuses • Illegality • Legal authority • Limitation • Necessity • Self-defence Remedies Apologies • Damages • Injunctions • Insurance • Legal costs • Mitigation • Proprietary Tort Law & Legal Systems Charter values • Class actions • Concurrent actions • Constitutional torts • Indigenous dispute resolution • No-fault compensation schemes Tort Theory Instrumental theories • Constructive theories • Critical theories • Reflexive theories Study Resources 1L strategy • Answer exercises • Quizzes • Beswick's course site • Opening Up Tort Law Project Index Tort law is a branch of private law that recognizes and responds to wrongdoing between people. This wiki commentary explores and explains the nature and relevance of the common law of torts in Canada. We hope you find this free and accessible resource useful for your studies, classroom discussions, and overall understanding of this subject. About The Common Law Torts Wiki was developed over 2023-25 under the editorial supervision of Samuel Beswick, Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law, through a project with Allard Law JD students Gabriella Pasolli, Cléa Catona, Lillian Callender and Alirod Ameri (summer 2023) and Joey He and Malik Dhami (summer 2024). It was supported by a UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) Small Innovation Project Grant. The quiz exercises that are integrated throughout were developed with former Allard Law students Maddison Zapach (summer and fall 2021) and Parm Rai (summer 2020). The wiki is a living resource that is updated and improved from time-to-time. Contribute Law students and scholars who have ideas to contribute to the development of this commentary on the common law of torts are encouraged to reach out to Prof. Beswick. Contributions generally should comply with the wiki content and style guide. UBC affiliates can make minor error corrections or updates directly by logging in with their CWL account. Non-UBC affiliates may contact Prof. Beswick attaching suggested content additions or edits. Disclaimer This wiki commentary is a pedagogical resource only and was created to support student learning. It is not an authoritative source of law or legal principle or legal advice and should not be relied upon or cited as such. If you need legal advice, contact a lawyer or a legal advice program. As a free collaboratively-made living resource, this wiki can be edited by anyone with UBC CWL access. Contributors do not guarantee the validity or accuracy of the information provided. We disclaim responsibility for any inaccurate information and exclude all representations, warranties, obligations and liabilities in relation to the wiki content to the maximum extent permitted by law. We incorporate by reference all of the disclaimers applicable to Wikipedia. License Content created for this wiki commentary is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Full references and, where available, hyperlinks to external sources are provided throughout. Images are licensed from the Wikimedia Commons or other open repositories, as indicated on each image file page. Hyperlinks to external podcasts, YouTube videos, and other media are provided, as well as embedded where permitted by the host site. 2021 CanLIIDocs 1859 Case readings The Common Law Torts Wiki aims to provide a general introduction to the common law of torts, as well as to complement and supplement the case law readings presented in Tort Law: Cases and Commentaries (2021 CanLIIDocs 1859). A case is a judgment of a court that both resolves a dispute between parties and operates as an authoritative source of law and legal principle. The judgments collated, organized and republished in the Tort Law: Cases and Commentaries casebook have been edited down to facilitate clarity and a manageable law school reading load; the full judgment text can be read by following the hyperlinked citations. Themes Each of the judgments that appears in Tort Law: Cases and Commentaries was selected for inclusion because it illustrates one or more of five themes of the casebook. Empowering plaintiffs to sue Tort law is a branch of private law – the law that governs the legal relationships between people (as opposed to public law, which governs people's relationships with their government). Tort law empowers victims to pursue legal remedies against those who wrong them, typically without having to seek permission of a court or being beholden to the discretion of a public servant. For example, a person who is intentionally struck in the face by another may sue the wrongdoer for the tort of battery, but they cannot ordinarily prosecute the wrongdoer for the crime of assault. The decision to charge and prosecute a suspected criminal lies with the state (through the police and the prosecutor), not with the victim. The decision to sue for civil wrongdoing, on the other hand, lies with the victim (not with the state or anyone else). Equality of all under ordinary law A distinctive feature of the common law and constitutional law of Canada and other Commonwealth jurisdictions is the idea of legal equality. This idea was famously expounded by Professor Albert Venn Dicey, who considered that the the rule of law requires the subjection of public officials to same laws and courts as govern ordinary people. It is this idea of equality that explains why police officers, cities, and governments can be sued by individuals in tort. Incremental development of the common law While many statutory interventions have been made into the law of torts, the traditional and primary source of tort law is the common law. The common law in Canada developed originally from English common law. The common law is typified by inductive reasoning: discerning the law from "the bottom up" through judges relying upon case precedents to decide disputes by delivering judgments, which go on to serve as precedents for future judges to rely upon in deciding future disputes. Community standards and values The disputes that form the substance of a case arise from the community over which the court has jurisdiction. The common law's inductive nature leads to community standards and values informing judicial reasoning and understanding of legal concepts, such as the concept of reasonableness. But which aspects of the community carry weight? When reading through cases, it becomes clear, for example, that the idea of the reasonable person is adaptable to different contexts. It is important to be mindful of the time and place of the cases you are reading to properly situate yourself in the perspective of the court and community of the period. If you find yourself disagreeing with a judge's reasoning, ask yourself why – when and where does your reasoning break away from the court's? Judicial dialogue over time within and between jurisdictions Map of the legal systems of the world When a dispute arises that presents a court with a novel issue or problem, judges can find it useful to look to other jurisdictions to see how other courts have answered the question. As the common law develops incrementally through reliance on past cases, it is not unusual for judges to engage with foreign judgments and to adopt persuasive judicial reasoning in analogous cases. Media The Common Law Torts Wiki aims to be a springboard into media and other sources to help students appreciate the relevance and context of tort cases and concepts. As you explore the pages you will encounter: Quizzes: Self-assessment quizzes appear at the bottom of many of the pages. There is also a master page that collates all of the quizzes in one place. Videos: Informative videos hosted externally on YouTube and elsewhere that are designed to help students wrap their heads around tort concepts. News items: Sometimes the disputes that are of interest to law teachers and students also attracted public interest at the time and are reported in the news. News reporting often demonstrates the personal context of a legal case and its societal impact. News items appear throughout the wiki in pink-coloured boxes. Podcasts: Whether the mountains of reading you might have for each class overwhelm you, or you need something to listen to during long commutes, podcasts are a great way to learn about the law in a different format than you may be used to. Blogs: Short blog posts can be an excellent way to see how someone else has analyzed a case or the application of a specific tort. Articles and books: Scholarly publications set out sustained explanations and critiques of the law and legal arguments. You will find journal articles and book contributions on tort law cited throughout the wiki.