A “tort” is an action (or lack of action) that leads to harm or injury to another person. In Arizona, when a tort causes an injury, the victim can seek financial recovery. One of the most common types of tort law is personal injury law.
Four of them are personal: assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. The other three are trespass to chattels, trespass to property, and conversion.
In addition, some judges have, on a retroactive basis, created brand new tort claims that have no basis in precedent or state public policy. The courts have, in some instances, acted as legislators.
There are three kinds of torts: intentional torts, negligent torts, and strict liability torts. Intentional torts arise from intentional acts, whereas negligence often results from carelessness. Both intentional torts and negligent torts imply some fault on the part of the defendant.
Tort law has also historically been a matter of common law rather than statutory law; that is, judges (not legislatures) developed many of tort law's fundamental principles through case-by- case adjudication.
In addition, some judges have, on a retroactive basis, created brand new tort claims that have no basis in precedent or state public policy. The courts have, in some instances, acted as legislators.
That judges can and do make new law on subjects not covered by previous decisions; but that judges cannot unmake old law, cannot even change an existing rule of "judge-made" law.
There are numerous specific torts including trespass, assault, battery, negligence, products liability, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. There are also separate areas of tort law including nuisance, defamation, invasion of privacy, and a category of economic torts.
Tort claims in Arizona are legal actions that seek formal or informal resolution for wrongful action or wrongful inaction. This implies that it could be addressed in the appropriate court of law or out of it. Tort claims are legal responses to a party's failure to fulfill a legal duty of care.
The Arizona courts made two decisions in August 2021 affirming the constitutionality of medical professional liability tort reforms that require expert testimony and preclude statements of apology by healthcare providers from being used as evidence of liability.