wrongful act must be of such a nature as to give rise to a legal remedy in the form of an action for damages.
25 The act/ omission complained of should, under the circumstances, be legally wrongful as regards the party complaining. That is, it must prejudicially affect him in some legal right. A good example of the prejudice here could be whether obstruction of one’s right of way will attract a legal damage ie damage recognisable by the Law of Torts and not damage based on morality of the obstruction. Legal damage is an essential part of Tortious Liability. Not every sufferings, injuries, prejudices, annoyances, etc results in a “damage in the eye of the law”. There may be a wrong done to a person, but if it has not caused him, what the law terms, ”actual legal damage”, there will be no Tort committed. Legal damage is neither identical with actual damage nor is it necessarily pecuniary. In the leading case of Ashby Vs. White [1703] 2 Ld. Raym. 93 Lord Holt, CJ said: “Every injury imports a damage, though it does not cost the party one farthing, and it is impossible to prove the contrary; for a damage is not merely pecuniary, but an injury imports a damage, when a man is thereby hindered of his right... so a man shall have an action against another for riding over his ground, though it do him no damage..”
