Common Law Is Fivefold: Preponderance Of Evidence

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1. A tort is defined as a wrong done by one person to another, and the result is an injury to property or himself. Often a monetary award is given for the damage or injury in a tort case.
2. It is difficult to define the absolute meaning of tort because the meaning changes as society changes.
3. The plaintiff in a tort case is the individual while the plaintiff in a criminal case is the people, often a prosecutor.
4. There is a difference between a burden of proof in tort and criminal matters and that difference is one is stronger than the other. For tort matters, the proof is lower with a preponderance of evidence. In a preponderance of evidence, the proof must basically be more likely than not. In criminal matters, there is a higher proof needed, and it is beyond a reasonable doubt. For a …show more content…

The major purposes of tort law are (1) deterrence, (2) justice, and (3) compensation to the plaintiff.
6. How tort law is made is fivefold: common law, statutes, restatement of torts, the Constitution, and administrative law.
7. While tort law concerns itself with mainly compensating the plaintiff with sometimes giving injunctions, in criminal law, it concerns itself in punishing the defendant and the plaintiff is represented by the state and not the person to which the harm is done. The plaintiff is the state and often a prosecutor while the person bringing the case is a witness/victim. The plaintiff in a tort case is the individual while the plaintiff in a criminal case is the people, often a prosecutor.
8. The standard in torts is lower standard and is a preponderance of evidence while crimes have a higher standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. One if found liable in tort law while one if found guilty in criminal law. In simplistic terms, tort law it concerns itself with individual wrongs while criminal law concerns itself with crimes against society. (You can have someone charged with a civil suit and criminal suit and in most instances, it is not double

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