What is an intentional tort?

I- What is an intentional tort?

A tort is a kind of wrongful act that causes harm to someone else. Torts can be divided according to the mental state of the person who commits them; for example, torts are often caused by a person's negligence.

When the person who commits a wrongful act actually intends to do so, it is an 'intentional tort'.

An intentional tort occurs when someone deliberately intends to do something that causes harm or loss to another person.

II- Sanctions

The court is interested in the intention to commit the act.

It is not necessary for the person to actually intend to harm, but the other person still ends up being harmed, as in the case of a prank. The person may also intend to harm, as in cases of domestic violence.

The law generally imposes harsher penalties in cases of intentional tort, because the harm is more directly related to a person's actions than in a case of negligence.

Courts are likely to order the defendant to pay punitive and compensatory damages to the plaintiff. Punitive damages are damages that punish the defendant's wrongful conduct.

III- Common intentional torts

Battery:

Battery is an intentional, harmful or offensive contact. In effect, the person intends to hit the victim in the face and thus injure him or her.

In this case, the court takes into account the intention to cause contact and not the intention to injure.

For the contact to be considered battery, the intention to harm or offend must be taken into account.

Harmful contact is any contact that results in physical impairment, pain or any other form of physical harm.

In the case of offensive contact, the law uses the standard of reasonableness. This means that the contact violates a reasonable person's sense of dignity.

Reasonableness excludes hypersensitivity to certain types of contact from the definition of assault and battery.

Assault:

In tort law, assault is distinguished from battery because it does not require actual contact.

Assault involves intentionally putting a person in reasonable fear of harmful or offensive contact.

The harm must be imminent and the defendant must be able to carry out the threat of violence for it to be an assault.

Mere words without physical action do not constitute assault.

The harm that is threatened must be physical harm.

Assault and Battery are considered criminal offenses and civil wrongs.

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