1955 CLP 107. Read: Brett, An Inquiry Into Criminal Guilt (1963), Chapter 2. Read: Hadden, "Contract, Tort and Crime: The Forms of Legal Thought", (1971) 87 LQR 240. Read: Linden, "Tort Law As Ombudsman", (1973) 51 Canadian Bar Review 150. Tort is an infringement or privation of the private or civil rights belonging to individuals considered as individuals; whereas a crime is a breach of public rights and duties which affect the whole community considered as a community. In Tort, the wrong-doer has to compensate the injured party, whereas, in crime,
68 he is punished by the state in the interests of society. In Tort, the action is brought by the injured party. In crime the proceedings are conducted in the name of the state and guilty person is punished by the state. A Tort may some time also amount to a crime, for instance, Assault: the right violated is that which every man has, that his bodily safety shall be respected. The act of violence is also a menace to the safety of society generally, and will therefore be punished by the State. Where the same wrong is both a crime and a tort (e.g. Assault, Libel, Theft) its two aspects are not identical. Its definition as a Crime and as a Tort may differ. What is a defence to the Tort may not be so in Crime; and the object and result of a prosecution and of an action in Tort are different. The wrong-doer may be ordered in a civil action to make compensation to the injured party, and also
