Thanks Gents, I did not think to look in the dictionary as I thought it was an acronym...
Regards Dave L ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Cleaver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 12:07 AM Subject: Re: [aus-soaring] Torts > > >At 8:41 PM +0930 22/7/02, Dav wrote: > >>Hmm but I still couldnt define the word tort....is it an acronym? > > > > > >At 22:10 22-07-02 +0930, Simon H wrote > >http://www.dictionary.com (where else) says: > > > >tort Pronunciation Key (t�rt) > >n. Law > > > >Damage, injury, or a wrongful act done willfully, negligently, or in > >circumstances involving strict liability, but not involving breach of > >contract, for which a civil suit can be brought. > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >[Middle English, injury, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tortum, from > >Latin, neuter past participle of torqure, to twist. See terkw- in > >Indo-European Roots.] > >Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth > >Edition > >Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. > > > As Simon says, a tort is a legal term relating to a civil common-law (i.e. > neither criminal nor statute law) situation. It relates to a claimed > breach of a duty of care, which caused personal injury to one party who > then claims a sum of money (called 'damages') to compensate them for their > loss or injury. > > To prove a tort, the claimant ('plaintiff') must prove that: > 1. A duty of care existed > 2. That duty of care was knowingly, recklessly or negligently > breached, and > 3. The breach contributed directly to a loss or injury for which > the plaintiff seeks compensation. > > Unlike criminal law, civil law only requires proof on the balance of > probabilities (instead of beyond reasonable doubt), and a person who is > found not guilty of a criminal offence may still be served with a claim for > a tort and be found liable to pay compensation to the person whom he/she is > alleged to have wronged. > > Tort cases have been far more common in recent years because of a number of > factors: > People are far more likely nowadays to seek to blame somebody else > for their misfortunes, and less likely to accept responsibility for their > own decisions and actions > The courts are far more likely to apply a broad view of one > party's duty of care to another, and expect people to be more knowledgeable > about a potential duty of care to someone else > Lawyers are now able to take on cases on a "no result - no > payment" basis, where they agree to take on a case in return for a > proportion of the judgement damages rather than charging "a set fee, win or > lose". > This encourages plaintiffs to take on unwinnable cases, and > defendants and their insurance companies to settle them out of court for > some payment rather than incur the higher costs of properly defending a > case which is tenuous at best. > The contrary argument is that for small damages, most people > cannot risk losing the cost of having the case argued for them and so would > choose not to claim compensation to which they are rightfully due - in > which case justice is not done, and is seen to be not done. > Knowing that plaintiffs often have to shell out up to 90% of their > damages to pay their lawyers, those cases that do get as far as a jury > often end up with an award of damages far in advance of what is reasonable, > because the person who has been wronged can only get a reasonable amount > for themselves if the award also covers the huge fees taken by those who > argue the case for them. > > Hence the common saying that the only people who win out of accidents > nowadays are the legal profession (and everybody else worries how they will > pay their insurance premium next year). > > Wombat > > > > -- > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. > * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message > * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information. > -- * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
