VICTIMLESS TORTS: AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE
Submitted by Supervised by Kriti Shrivastava Dr. Sushila
National Law University Delhi (India) 2014
Declaration
I hearby declare that the work reported in this project report entitled Victimless torts: An Indian experience submitted at National
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Tort may be defined as a civil wrong that is not a breach of contract or a breach of trust. Tort in civil law jurisdictions is defined as, “a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act, called a tortfeasor.”Torts are basically injurious wrongs whose main motive is to compensate the plaintiff or the victim for the harm suffered due to the wrongful act of the tortfeasor or the defendant. For the wrong of tort to be committed, there has to be infliction of harm on someone who can approach the court for the grant of compensation. Thus one may argue that there are no victimless torts but this is not the case. There exist some specific torts that may fall into the Category of ‘Victimless Torts’ for instance Misfeasance in public office or the tort of public …show more content…
The instances of this are so numerous, that it would be a waste of time to refer to them. From that point forward the idea of misuse of public office has been checked on a few times. This dependably includes deceitfulness, wrongness and an expectation to cause harm from people in public office. The risk additionally exists where it can be demonstrated that the authority was not acting in compliance with common decency or good faith. The principle constituents to choose the risk of the authority are-
• That the act or conduct has been committed by a public officer.
• The act or conduct must have been done by him in the purported exercise of his power as a public officer.
• That the act or conduct must have been done either: a) Maliciously; or b) Knowing that the impugned act or conduct is invalid/unauthorized and knowing that it will probably injure the claimant.
• The act or conduct must cause loss or harm to the
Corruption is a persistent problem that plagues the world and it knows no boundaries. Transparency International defines it as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (2013). For the purposes of this thread, ‘corruption’ is defined as any individual, collective, or structural act or process that permits the use of public authority or position for private gain. This definition captures the broad and many ways individuals and institutions abuse power and the public trust. In regard to whistleblowing, much conflict stems from the context in which the whistleblower is viewed.
Discretion does have its advantages. Philip Howard puts forward as an argument that discretion is an essential and inevitable element of public administration. According to Howard discretion is needed to make certain that benevolence is in the manner of governing. He suggest that in an effort to attain conformity with the rules or fairness, more than is normal limited the discretion of public officials in some principle of action adopted by government areas.
First, consider the Elected Official Safety Act. One can argue against it, chastising and criticizing it by vitriolic attacks on its validity, especially based on how it was stated. However, as this opinion will show, those attacks a...
Since the beginning of our nation, victims have always existed, and the categories of victims and types of suffering have expanded greatly. At our creation, more obvious examples of victims stood out, such as the Native Americans who first inhabited this land. The colonists may even consider themselves victims to the Crown. As we move throughout our history we continue to see widely-known examples of people suffering, from the disgusting era of slavery to the horrific terrorist attacks on our country's soil at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. However, it was the day-to-day victimization that had yet to be known or explored. This speaks to the crimes occurring every day in our nation that result in the short-term and long-term suffering of victims.
Kenneth Ashworth, a public servant, has served Texas and its fine education for more than thirty years and knows all the ins and outs of how the government works. He has written his book to benefit his niece, who has decided to follow in his footsteps, of all of his dealings from problematic politicians to many life lessons that have shaped him. Intended for his niece, this book has opened the minds for not only me and my peers, but for students around the state. After reading Caught between the Dog and the Fireplug, or How to Survive Public Service, Kenneth Ashworth makes a truthful point of knowing what the differences of personal responsibility and social responsibility is as a bureaucrat. Ashworth shows that social and personal responsibility can be two of the same if the morals of the person acting upon them are in good conscious.
there must have been a wrongful act committed and the plaintiff must have suffered. (Cannell)
“Tort” means “wrong” and it is natural to think that wrongs are the domain of tort law.
According to Nash, the definition of “victim” is a slippery concept. Nast notes that as a matter of law, whether someone is a victim of a crime may depend, among other things, on the type and extent of injury sustained, the tenuousness of the connection of injury to the offender’s conduct, and whether the victim was at fault in the criminal transactions. Nash also note that that the term, “victim” is inconsistently applied in the various arenas of federal criminal law. While the definitions of “victim found in the federal restitution and victim’s rights statutes are functionally identical, the federal Rules of Criminal Procedure define “victim” differently. (Wallace; Roberson
Victims are also affected by punishments and rehabilitation also the. In some cases a victim and family are also affected, like if the victim has to testify against the defendant or like in cases when drunk drivers kill other drivers, the victim families usually want some type of
A tort is wrongful interference against a person or property, other than breaches of contract, for which the courts can rectify through legal action. The reform effort is aimed at reducing the number of unnecessary lawsuits that burden the court system while still allowing injured parties compensation when they’ve been wronged. This latest effort at tort reform has given rise to the same spirited rhetoric that might be found in a courtroom.
after suffering harm from the acts of the other party (Turner, 2013). A tort is a civil wrong
Wolhuter, Lorraine, Neil Olley, and David Denham. Victimology: victimisation and victims’ rights. London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2009.
In recent years the role of victims in the criminal justice system has risen into prominence, inspiring much research into victim experience and possible reform. There are a multitude of factors that influence policy makers in relation to reforming the criminal justice system, one of which is victims. However, victims while they can be catalysts for reforms such as the case of James Ramage among others, they still play a relatively minor role in influencing policy change.
Compensation involves monetary awards and can be difficult to decide the proper amount of compensation to make the plaintiff whole. In some instance the compensatory damages may seem too far exceed the actual loss of the plaintiff. In addition to over compensation to the plaintiff, another concern is how lawyers are paid for their services. The perception is that lawyers make to much money compared to the plaintiff. Many people, politicians, and companies believe that tort system is defective and requires reform to bring the system more in line with the original intent of tort
The difference between ethics and morals, between unethical conduct and immoral behavior, is significant with regards to the actions of elected officials. Elected officials should be obliged to live with ethical conduct but necessary moral behavior. Obligating elected officials to live ethically exemplary lives with regards to their profession is appropriate because the officials are elected into their government positions by the nation's or region's citizens. Those denizens expect their officials to abide by the region's own ethics, by “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ough...