Distinction from Crime, Breach of Contract etc., who may sue, who may not be sued

A stranger posts a false message on a WhatsApp group saying your father cheats his customers. The police can prosecute him. Your father can also sue him for money. A neighbour with whom your father has a written agreement, who breaks that agreement, can be sued too, but not prosecuted. Three situations, three different legal worlds. Before you can practise tort law you must be able to say, in any fact pattern, which world you are in and who is allowed to walk into which courtroom.

In two minutes

Tort is a private civil wrong whose duty is fixed by law and whose remedy is unliquidated damages; crime is a public wrong punished by the State, and breach of contract is breach of a duty the parties themselves agreed; any person with a legal right may sue, and only a few persons (mostly through immunities or procedural bars) cannot be sued.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law of Torts, Motor Accident Claims and Consumer Protection on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.