Difference between revisions of "Civil Claims and Family Violence"

Certainly, tort claims for abuse and violence can overlap with family law issues, but it helps to know that tort claims for abuse and violence arise independently from the ''[[Family Law Act'']] and its treatment of ''family violence''. The ''Family Law Act'' has its own definition of ''family violence'' (including non-physical forms), emphasizes its impact on decisions around the care of children, and provides specific mechanisms like protection orders that are discussed in the section of on [[Family Violence and the Family Law Act]] in this chapter.  

The word ''tort'' comes from the Latin word for ''wrong'', and tort law deals with things like personal injuries, motor vehicle accidents, negligence, assault and battery, trespass, etc. The legal definition of a tort is "a breach of a duty owed by someone to someone else which gives rise to a cause of action," like a duty not to hit someone, a duty to drive carefully, or a duty not to dig a hole in your lawn that someone might fall into. Generally speaking, these sort of tort claims aren't spelled out in laws the way that the rules against robbery or assault are set out in the ''Criminal Code''. Tort claims are part of the ''common law'', the law that the courts (as opposed to the legislature) has created and maintained for hundreds of years.