This is grounded on the concept of rights and these rights may include:-
- The right to be free from bodily harm.
- The right to enjoy a good reputation
- The right to conduct business without unwarranted interference.
- The right to have ones property free from damage.
A tort may be defined as one person interference with another’s rights intent, negligence or strict liability; it is a wrong of personal measure i.e. a wrong against an individual; a crime against the public.
Torts related to social work
- Trespass
- This is an intentional tort.
- However it a wrongful injury or interference with the property of another; property is everything that people can hold including real property e.g. land, anything built on that land, planted on that etc.
- Under common law, ownership of real property extends from the centre of the earth to the highest point in the sky.
- A person owns not only a portion of the earth crust but also the ground under it and the air space above it.
- It is trespass to enter another person’s air space without authority or p[permission.
- Conversion
- This is also an intentional tort.
- It refers to unauthorized taking or borrowing of personal property of another for the use of the taker or borrower.
- The tort law provides compensation to someone whose personal property is taken, damaged etc.
- Nuisance
Anything that interferes with the enjoyment of life or property e.g. loud noise, smokes, noxious odours; there are two categories of nuisance i.e. public and private.
Public nuisance; is one that affects large group of people e.g. people in a common neighbourhood; private nuisance; is one that affects one persona
4. Negligence Refers the failure of an individual to exercise the degree of care that reasonable person worlds have exercised in the same circumstances.
The word negligence comes from the root word neglect which may lead us to think of negligence as forgetfulness, inattentiveness or lack of care about others. But tort law requires us to analyze negligence as relates to a person’s conduct; even a person who cares a great deal for others nay be negligent if his/her conduct creates unreasonable harm.
- Defamation
This is a wrongful art of injuring another’s reputation by making false statements.
- Assault
This is threatening to harm with a weapon or verbally or physically.
