Tortuous liability arises from the breach of duty primarily fixed by law, this duty is towards

persons generally and its breach is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages.

The differences between Tort and Crime are as follows:

Tort is a wrongful act or an infringement of a right (other than under contract) leading to civil
legal liability. A more detailed definition of Tort is a civil wrong which can be redressed by
awarding damages. See, e.g. Smith v. United States, 507 U.S. 197 (1993).1 A crime however, is
an act committed or omitted, in violation of a public law, either forbidding or commanding it; a
breach or violation of some public right or duty due to a whole community, considered as a
community. In its social aggregate capacity, as distinguished from a civil injury. Wilkins v. U. S2

In crime, a case is prosecuted by the state as it is the custodian of the society. In Tort, the
individual person will go to court for redress.

Crime involves a criminal procedure while in Tort, a civil procedure is undertaken.

The wrong doer in Crime is referred to as an offender or the accused person. In Tort, the
wrong doer is called a tort-feasor.

In Crime, the available remedy is generally termed as punishment. This may be in the form of
imprisonment in institutions such as jails (custodial) or even one may be forced to pay a fine
(non-custodial). In Tort, there are unliquidated damages. These are also referred to as general
damages. These are non-monetary aspects to a specific harm suffered for instance pain.

A crime is an act against the people as a whole. Society punishes the murderer; it does not
usually compensate the family of the victim. Tort law, on the other hand, views the death as a
private wrong for which damages are owed. In a civil case, the tort victim or his family, not the
state, brings the action. The judgment against a defendant in a civil tort suit is usually expressed
in monetary terms, not in terms of prison times or fines, and is the legal system’s way of trying
to make up for the victim’s loss.3

The differences between Tort and Contract are as follows:

1
Legal Information Institute
2
Black’s Law Dictionary
3
Introduction to Tort Law Chapter 7
 The roles of tort and contract are quite distinct. The role of contract law simply revolves
around the enforcement of promises. Therefore the liability is centered around the contract and
whether it was formed, it’s terms and whether the terms were breached. The remedies thus seek
to place the claimant in the position so far as money can do it, that he or she would have been in
had the contract been performed. In contrast, tort is concerned with compensating the victim who
has suffered injury as a result of conduct classified as a civil wrong by law. The aim is not to
bargain but to compensate the victim for his or her out-of-pocket expenses, thus placing the
victim in the same position as he or she would have been in had the victim not sustained the
wrong for which the compensation was being awarded.4

When someone breaches a contract, the remedy is classified as special or liquidated damages.
This is contrary to Tort whereby the remedy is unliquidated or general damages.

Tort is a breach of a duty fixed by law Rylands v Fletcher (1886). This is in contrast to
Contract which is a breach of duty is by the involved parties.

In Tort, the duty is on persons generally (owed to every other person and no person in
particular) while in contract the duty is limited to contracting parties.

The difference between Tort and Breach of Trust (Equitable Obligation)5

Tort is a civil wrong. Civil proceedings shall be instituted. In contrast, Breach of Trust and
other equitable obligations are criminal offences, and are liable for punishment with
imprisonment, or fine or both.

In Tort the motive is irrelevant. In Equitable Obligation, the motive is relevant.

The law of torts in its origin is a part of the common law. In Breach of Trust and other
obligations fell exclusively within the jurisdiction of equity.

In The Law of Torts the plaintiff and the defendant may or may not know each other previous
to the incidence of tortious liability. In Equitable Obligation the plaintiff and the defendant know
each other from the beginning. In fact the law of the trust is depended upon the trust on each
other.

4
Tort by Paula Giliker and Silas Beckwith
5
Difference between Tort and Breach of Trust by Esha Jain
 The legal remedy for a tortious liability is unliquidated damages. In Equitable Obligation the
injunctions, specific restitution of property, and the payment of liquidated sums of money by
way of penalty, etc. are legal remedies available to the plaintiff. Besides them, the defendant is
also liable for fine or imprisonment or both under” the criminal proceedings