Principles of American Tort Law and Case Studies

Author: Li Xiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: To blood, or to say tmtl alum for Chinese law students who have long been nurtured by the continental legal tradition; for students who do not often deal with the law, this may not be a familiar concept. In fact, even in the United States, if a person who rarely deals with the law happens to read this word in a newspaper, they may not be able to explain its meaning. Indeed, the word "" can be translated into Chinese as "tort law" or more academically as "civil liability law." It is neither a colloquial term used in everyday English nor a native English word, but rather derived from the Latin word "cum," meaning "twist." Words with similar meanings include the French word "bn," meaning "injury" or "mistake."
Tort law, although one of the oldest concepts in the common law system, only truly emerged as an independent legal department with a complete theoretical system in the judicial practice of the United States in the last 100 years, especially in the past 50 years. Like many other legal departments in the United States, American tort law is both theoretically and procedurally rooted in the ancient English case law. Therefore, to study American tort law, one must seek its origins in English law.
It is generally believed that although scholars regard the Norman Conquest of 1066 as the starting point for the history of tort law, the shadow of modern tort law can be traced back to a type of lawsuit in medieval England called "appeal of felony," meaning that if the defendant was deemed guilty, they would face the confiscation of property as punishment. The existence of tort as an independent cause of action originated from the writ system in the 13th century. At that time, anyone who wished to obtain judicial relief for an injury had to first obtain a writ issued by the British King. These writs were typically divided into direct tort lawsuits (Aeactlmdu2sp,ss) and indirect tort lawsuits (dea．cdde: