The word tort is of French origin and is equivalent of the English word wrong. It is derived from the Latin word tortum, which means twisted or crooked. It implies conduct that is twisted or crooked. Tort is commonly used to mean a breach of duty amounting to a civil wrong.

Salmond defines tort as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a

common law action for unliquidated damages and which is not exclusively the

breach of a contract or the breach of a trust or other merely equitable

obligation.

A tort arises due to a person’s duty to others which is created by one law or the other. A person who commits a tort is known as a tortfeaser, or a wrongdoer. Where they are more than one, they are called joint tortfeaser. Their wrongdoing is called tortuous act and they are liable to be sued jointly and severally.

The principle aim of the Law of tort is compensation for victims or their

dependants. Grants of exemplary damages in certain cases will show that

deterrence of wrong doers is also another aim of the law of tort.