[UPBEAT MUSIC]

PRESENTER: Let's say I punch you in the face, and you suffer really bad injuries. First of all, that's kind of nasty of me, and I probably will be going to jail for that. But that's the criminal law, and we won't be talking about that part today.

Instead, let's say you spent a few weeks in hospital, and your hospital bill is just over the top. I don't think you'd be too happy to pay for that yourself, especially when it wasn't your fault. And you're probably thinking something like, hey, he should pay for it because it was his fault that I got into this in the very first place.

And that's the idea behind tort law. If I do something wrong, and you suffer because of it, I should pay you for all the damage that I cause. And there's two parts to that idea. What counts as something wrong, and what counts as damage?

First, let's talk about what's considered as wrong in the eyes of tort law. Well, think of some obvious statements which start with "you shouldn't." You shouldn't cause physical harm to others. You shouldn't take other people's stuff. You shouldn't fall below the standard of a decent person when doing your job.

The law gives a really nice name to these "shouldn't" statements. It calls them duties. And if I do something that I shouldn't have done, the law calls that a breach of duty. You might then ask, what can the law do if we breach our duties? That falls under the second part of the question.

If I breach my duty to you, then the law will have to make me pay for the damage that arises from that breach. Going back to the very same example of me punching you in the face, this probably includes me paying for your hospital bills and any money you lost from being out of work for a while.

Now of course, the law won't make me pay for everything you ask me to pay for, and here are three examples where the law is a little more careful with calculating damage. First of all, let's say I punch your face, but it's a really light punch that doesn't hurt you at all.

Thing is, just as I punch you, your car, sitting in the car park right beside us, just explodes. If you try to say, he punched me, and then my car exploded, so he should pay for my car, that's just ridiculous, and the law can simply say that I did not cause that damage.

Well, let's stick with the example of me punching you really lightly. Let's say after I punch you, you develop really bad psychological symptoms, like PTSD, and you want me to pay for that. In this case, I definitely caused your PTSD, but the law might say that the type of damage caused was too remote.

Finally, let's say that you begged me with utmost sincerity to punch you, and then I punched you. In this case, you totally asked for it, and that's an example of what the law calls a defense for me. Of course, tort law goes way deeper than that, but I hope that this video has given you a little glimpse into the subject.

If you're a law student, don't forget to do your readings as well. And for everyone watching this, law students and non-law students alike, please have a great day ahead and stay safe.