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Torts

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We think that the Law of Torts is an exciting subject.

A "tort" is a civil cause of action which allows a Plaintiff to bring a claim against a Defendant in a civil court for damages for civil wrongdoing.

Many text books spend chapters trying to define the word "tort". It came from the French language meaning "wrong" and was brought to the English system after the Norman (French) invasion over a thousand years ago.

It is difficult to provide an exact definition but the Law of Torts is concerned with the civil factual situations where the conduct or behaviour of one citizen causes harm to or invades the property or space or interests of another person.

The Law of Torts provides a body of rules or causes of action which allow one person to sue another in a civil Court for damages.

Throughout this topic we have directed you to a number of other related and important topics. 

You can access them by direct link from the Related Topics box at the top and at the bottom of this page. 

 

We suggest that you visit our Index Site entitled  Cause of Action  to give you a general overview of established legal principles which allow you to sue people if you have suffered damage.

 

We also suggest that you seek out from the library a very worthwhile text book on the law of torts in New Zealand which is the third edition of Todd entitled The Law of Torts in New Zealand.

 

The category of torts is not closed. Even though we are into the 21st century the Courts are always willing to develop a further tort or wrongdoing capable of sustaining a claim for damages.

We shall see how Internet fraud or Internet privacy invasion develops into a tort.

We have seen in modern times the tort of breach of privacy being developed.

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 has allowed for the basis for a number of new torts if damages have been caused -

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"Hi to Netlaw. I found this a useful overview. I went to the ACC website and found it too difficult to follow. Jim (Dunedin)

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"Interesting, but also see the very helpful Harrassment Act topic which is a beaut! I am curently going to use the Bond thing against my neighbours who are deliberately throwing rocks over on to our lawn. Dick - Hamilton - April 2007."
"Complicated but it fits in with the Harrassment Act and trespass Notices and I see you have both topics.
Leigh - Kati Kati "

"How frequently are these used? My neighbours throw abuse across the fence every single day. They also throw little pieces of rubbish on to my back lawn. I can put up with so much but every day?? KL - Manurewa

Netlaw replies - Not very often. the Judges don't like them and prefer the Police to handle neighbour disputes. But there are times when they should be granted."

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"I liked you Civil Index. Not much need for family or criminal but you civil index is very good to have at my fingertips. Thanks for providing this service T. (name withheld)"
"Great assistance. I agree with the above. Your civil topics are great. Better than we get at Polytech where I am studying Business Law. Terry -Dunedin - June 2007"
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"I found all these contract topics interesting and helpful. JD. Napier December 2006"
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"It's not fair that when you win a case you still have to beg a judge to award you costs and even then the award is always less than you have to pay your lawyer. This happened to me. My lawyer told me that there's always two sides to a story but the judge didn't recognise any validity in the other side's claim yet the nett result is that I recover only about 60% of my costs to my lawyer and the other 40% is about half of what I won in the case. That isn't justice. A real pissed off Kevin J. - Auckland - June 2007"
"NETLAW replies. Yes, we agree. What you need to do in these cases is make an Application for "Full and Reasonable Costs" and argue that the Court should (it can) make a full award. You need to convince a Judge that the other side never really has a chance of winning and that it is unfair that you should have to pay any costs. That is the way it is in the UK and Australia. But in New Zealand, it is usually only a percentage of the costs that you get back. That is unfair in many many cases. NETLAW - June 2007"
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"I found this interesting. I want to sue for punitive damages and I was interested to learn that our courts are pretty conservative. I think the Welfare have quite wrongly taken my kids and I have found out that the affidavit they gave to a Judge to get an order to uplift them was known to the Welfare to be incorrect. They told the Judge that I had drug convictions but when I found out 5 months ago that they thought that I proved then to them that this was untrue yet I have now found that they have still put this false evidence in an affidavit. But they have also told other people about my "drug convictions". You have to watch these people. (name witheld) - May 2007"
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"I got so much from this site. You are right. It is better to "upskill" myself first before paying megabucks to a lawyer just to get an opinion.

I liked access to the case law and the real life submissions. Tim Shadbolt's case was a dag. How much did he get? Bud. Auckland

Thanks a lot . . . Max (Devonport)"

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"The fact examples or samples really helped me. Your topic also gave me confidence to speak up for myself. My case was a simple car accident but the other driver wouldn't pay and my lawyer was going to charge me $700 just to help. Netlaw allowed me successfully to "go it alone". Thanks. Thanks. I am on to making my own will now. Miriam (and hubbie)"
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"My neighbour had her bag snatched in the main st of Papakura. Her insurance company will pay to get the locks replaced for her house but not for her car. I think this is extremely unfair as her car was not the target for the theft.

We agree . . . Insurances Companies are increasingly relying on small print and NOT saying at the time the insurance is taken out that a car insurance does NOT cover items pinched from inside the car, and, in this case, obviously consider that the car is not similar to the house. It is best to get your Policy and sit down with an Insurance Company Rep. and try and discuss every little thing that could arise for which you would like to have coverage. - Netlaw"

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"I got so much from this site. You are right. It is better to "upskill" myself first before paying megabucks to a lawyer just to get an opinion.

I liked access to the case law and the real life submissions. Tim Shadbolt's case was a dag. How much did he get? Bud. Auckland"

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"Bastard Noise control officers! What can you do? I don't mind really noisy things being stopped but the officers don't seem to realise who is a genuine complainant and who is just a difficult neighbour.

Steve H. Auckland"

"Would you have any information or help on neighbour with a noisy car REVERSE parking his car with difficulty causing noise disturbance at night, Also may visitors of his boarders come up and down and the driveway at night causing a lot of car noise. Jon

Netlaw replies: A really difficult problem.

Traffic enforcement through the police will not get involved unless the noisy vehicle is being operated on a public road and, even then, prosecutions for a noisy vehicle usually relate to a specific matter such as a car with no exhaust.

Noise control officers with your local Council will find it very difficult to take steps because their powers do not involve prosecutions and punishments but rather involve steps to control noise at any one particular time.

Technically, you can bring a civil action in what is known as the tort of nuisance, but this is time-consuming and fairly costly and usually used only an industrial situations or in urban areas where a neighbour is running a workshop with electric machinery all hours of the night.

You are therefore left, in practical terms, only with approaching the neighbour, perhaps with the assistance of a third person mediator, to try and resolve the matter.

There are no cheap, quick and easy legal remedies apart from the matters referred to above.

Hope this short overview helps.


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Feedback/Blogs/Reviews from related topic: ACC
"I got so much from this site. You are right. It is better to "upskill" myself first before paying megabucks to a lawyer just to get an opinion.

I liked access to the case law and the real life submissions. Tim Shadbolt's case was a dag. How much did he get? Bud. Auckland"

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"Great. See the other topics on Statement of Claim -Some Examples - Graeme - Tauranga"
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"A fun topic. I can remember when I was a lawyer's secretary. He had a wee figurine of a barrister on his desk with a sign on it saying "Sue The Bastards" but, then, he should know because he was a bastard too, but a very good lawyer. (name withheld)"
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