Parties in a Tort

Like crimes, torts have both victims and perpetrators.

The Victims

Victims of a tort include the people directly injured by the tort and those who suffered because of a contract violations. There are certain peculiar things regarding multiple and child victims of a tort. A parent can't sue for and injured child, in theory. If a child is the victim of a tort, the child (not the parent) should be the one suing (although common sense would dictate that the parents support the child's case.) However, the parents of an injured child can also sue in their own right -for impairment of their parental rights and to recover costs (such as the child's medical care.) In case of multiple victims, each of them may sue.

The Tortfeasors

These are the perpetrators of a tort. They're called "tortfeasors" to distinguish them from criminals. A person who neither commits the tort, nor ratifies, it is generally not a tortfeasor except in certain cases we will take up later. The mere presence of a person at the site where the tort was committed doesn't make him a tortfeasor; and neither do mere knowledge, non-action, or acquiescence. In case a tort was committed in violating a contract (remember my previous post?) people who can't enter into a contract -such as minors- can't be tortfeasors. There are also torts committed by several persons; either as joint tortfeasors, or if they acted independently of each other. Joint tortfeasors have the same degree of liability but, unlike Criminal Law, if one tortfeasor was acquitted, it doesn't mean the others are acquitted unless the liability of one comes from his responsibility for the others' acts . Regarding independent tortfeasors there are two (2) scenarios:

1.) 2 separate injuries -Each torfeasor is responsible only for the injury he caused.

2.) Only 1 injury -All tortfeasors are responsible, even if their acts were different.