Definitions
1. Civil Law: the body of law concerned with civil or private rights and remedies, as contrasted
with criminal law which deals with wrongs against society.
2. Tort: a private or civil wrong or injury, other than breach of contract, for which the court will
provide a remedy in the form of an award for damages.
3. Breach of Contract: is the failure, without legal excuse to perform any promise which forms
the whole or part of the contract
4. Rule of Precedent: basic concept in common law in which current court decisions must
follow those made in cases having similar circumstances.
5. Statute Law: written law enacted by provincial or federal legislation. It amends or supercedes
the common law.
6. Damages: compensation in money for the loss or damage suffered.
7. Compensatory Damages: are damages intended to compensate the injured party for the
bodily injury or property damage sustained.
8. General Damages: are damages which cannot be exactly determined in monetary terms, but
reflect an amount that the court believes necessary to compensate the aggrieved party
fairly.
9. Special Damages: are damages which can be measured as to amount and are often
referred to as out of pocket expenses.
10. Exemplary or Punitive Damages: damages which are intended to punish defendants for
their behaviour or to make an example of them.
11. Nominal Damages: damages which may be awarded when there is no substantial loss or
injury to be compensated and the court award is being sought, if for no other reason than to
establish the validity of the plaintiff's claim when a question of principle is at stake.
12. Doctrine of Negligence: based on the duty of all persons to exercise due care in their
conduct towards others from which injury may result.
13. Negligence: the failure to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary
considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something
which a reasonable and prudent man would not do.
14. Strict Liability: doctrine based on the assumption that certain activities are so hazardous
that, in the event of injury or damage arising out of them, the person conducting the activity shall
be presumed to be legally liable.
15. Occupier: a person who has immediate supervision and control of the premises and the
power to admit and exclude the entry of others is an occupier.
1. Civil Law: the body of law concerned with civil or private rights and remedies, as contrasted
with criminal law which deals with wrongs against society.
2. Tort: a private or civil wrong or injury, other than breach of contract, for which the court will
provide a remedy in the form of an award for damages.
3. Breach of Contract: is the failure, without legal excuse to perform any promise which forms
the whole or part of the contract
4. Rule of Precedent: basic concept in common law in which current court decisions must
follow those made in cases having similar circumstances.
5. Statute Law: written law enacted by provincial or federal legislation. It amends or supercedes
the common law.
6. Damages: compensation in money for the loss or damage suffered.
7. Compensatory Damages: are damages intended to compensate the injured party for the
bodily injury or property damage sustained.
8. General Damages: are damages which cannot be exactly determined in monetary terms, but
reflect an amount that the court believes necessary to compensate the aggrieved party
fairly.
9. Special Damages: are damages which can be measured as to amount and are often
referred to as out of pocket expenses.
10. Exemplary or Punitive Damages: damages which are intended to punish defendants for
their behaviour or to make an example of them.
11. Nominal Damages: damages which may be awarded when there is no substantial loss or
injury to be compensated and the court award is being sought, if for no other reason than to
establish the validity of the plaintiff's claim when a question of principle is at stake.
12. Doctrine of Negligence: based on the duty of all persons to exercise due care in their
conduct towards others from which injury may result.
13. Negligence: the failure to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary
considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something
which a reasonable and prudent man would not do.
14. Strict Liability: doctrine based on the assumption that certain activities are so hazardous
that, in the event of injury or damage arising out of them, the person conducting the activity shall
be presumed to be legally liable.
15. Occupier: a person who has immediate supervision and control of the premises and the
power to admit and exclude the entry of others is an occupier.
