Injuria And Tort-Feaser

Damnum sine injuria and Injuria sine damnum are two maxims in the law of tort relating to the concept of legal damage. These two maxims define what and what not a legal damage is. The maxims are, thus, central to our understanding of what constitutes a legal damage. As we know, only in case of a legal damage, there is a legal remedy to repair the said damage primarily by way of compensation, which is called damages. Such damages are awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction to the victim and the damages are paid by the person who is held liable for such damage. In tort law, this person or the entity (it can be a sovereign state or its agents like police/army or municipal authorities) is called the tort-feaser. In this paper, we shall try …show more content…
In common parlance, law of tort lays down the standard of behaviour, the do’s and don’ts for the members of the civil society. It defines the legal rights and legal obligations of members of civil society and provides for monetary compensation to the person whose legal right has been violated by an act of commission or omission of another person/entity. Tort law is thus a victim centric law and intends protect and compensate the victim of an illegal act. The word ‘tort’ is of French origin and is derived from Latin word ‘tortum’ meaning twisted or a crooked act (the opposite of tortum in Latin is ‘rectum’ meaning straight). The equivalent English term is ‘wrong’. In Sanskrit the equivalent term is ‘jimha’, which means ‘crooked’. In ancient Hindu law ‘jimha’ referred to fraudulent or crooked conduct . Thus Tort refers to a wrongful act. At this stage, it will be useful to refer to some formal definitions of tort by various authorities. Frazer defines it ‘as an infringement of a right in rem of a private individual’ which gives rise to a ‘right to compensation in a suit brought by the injured party’ ( an injured person is one whose right has been violated). According to …show more content…
All losses do not constitute legal damage. Conversely, there can be legal damage even if there is no actual loss. The two maxims, in essence, refer to the above principles. Both the maxims contain the same three words: injuria, damnum and sine. Injuria means violation of a legal right. Damnum means actual physical, perceptible or tangible loss like loss in terms of money, property or health including mental agony. Sine means without. Thus injuria sine damnum means injuria ie., violation of a legal right without actual, perceptible or tangible loss. Similarly damnum sine injuria means actual, perceptible or tangible loss without injuria or violation of a legal right. In the first case that is injuria sine damnum, the plaintiff is entitled to compensation even if he has suffered no actual or tangible loss. Once there is a violation of his legal right(injuria), even if he suffers no loss, he is entitled to compensation in a suit. There are some legal rights like right to person, property and personal liberty which are essential for a civilised existence. Once there is a violation of such rights, law presumes a legal damage even if there is no actual loss. An infringement of this right is actionable per se. Trespass to person that is assault, battery and false imprisonment and trespass to property, whether it be land or goods and libel are instances of torts that