Distinguishing Law of Torts from Law of Crimes:



The following are the distinctions between tort and crime:

1) Breach : In tort, there is an infringement of private or civil rights of individuals, whereas in a crime, there is a breach of public rights which affect the whole community.
2) Proceedings: The action against the wrongdoer is initiated in a civil court, whereas in a crime, the legal proceedings are initiated in a criminal court.
3) Remedy : In tort, common remedy for a civil wrong is to compensate unliquidated damages to the injured whereas in the crime the common remedy is punishment and the criminal is punished by the State in the interest of society. Also in some cases along with punishment, fine is also imposed
4) Liability : In tort, the defendant is relieved of liability by paying compensation to the Plaintiff, where as in the crime the guilty person is punished
5) Filings : In tort, being a private wrong the suit for damages is filed in the court against the wrongdoers by the plaintiff himself. In case of crime proceedings are initiated against the accused by the State.
6) Nature : Tort is a civil wrong which is an infringement of the private or civil rights belonging to a person and less serious in nature. Thus tort is said to be a private wrong. On the other side, a crime is an offense against the community and a violation of public rights and duties which impacts the whole community. These are more serious in nature. Thus crime is said to be a public wrong.
7) Intention : In torts, intention is irrelevant. On the other hand, the law of Crimes is based on mens rea meaning guilty mind or evil mind which means evil intention.
8) Codified : Torts is not codified and it is derived from judicial decisions. On the other hand, the crimes is codified as IPC, CrPC.
9) Examples : Examples of Torts are Trespass, Negligence, Nuisance, Defamation. Examples for crimes are murder, kidnap, rape, dacoity.

In some of the cases, same set of facts add up to both a tort and a crime. The civil and criminal remedies in such a case are concurrent. The wrongdoer may compensate the injured under the law of torts, but still be liable under criminal proceedings. For example if a person opens and digs up a manhole on a public road resulting inconvenience to the public at large will be public nuisance as defined in Section 268, IPC and will be punished under criminal law. If any person while passing-by gets injured because of that it becomes a Private nuisance which is a tort against the person who created the nuisance.