Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture， as the little creep through， he great break through， and the middle-sized are alone entangled in.
—William Shinnston （British poet）
没有救济就没有权利，侵权法作为对权利的救济，无论是英美法系还是大陆法系，其都是整个民法的重要组成部分。美国侵权法的历史发展及其现状在很大程度上与美国法律学者的侵权法研究密切相关。虽然英国著名法官威廉·布莱克斯通（ William Blackstone）早在18世纪中后期便在其法律分类中将侵权归于一种“非因合同而产生的非刑事侵害”（ noncriminal wrongs not arising out of contract）的次要范畴，但直到19世纪上半叶，侵权法在英美法系中仍然只是数种诉讼令状（ writs）的松散组合，而不是一个独立的法律部门。侵权行为可以按照不同的方式进行划分。例如，侵权行为可以分为故意侵权行为（ intentional tort）、过失侵权行为（ negligence tort）和严格责任侵权行为（ strict liability tort）。故意侵权是英美侵权法中最古老的诉因。构成故意侵权责任的要件包括：故意、行为和因果关系。涉及侵犯人身权益方面的故意侵权之诉有：威吓（ assault）、殴打（ battery）、非法拘禁（ false imprisonment）和故意精神伤害（ intentional infliction of emotional distress）。过失侵权指一个人没有在法律所规定的以保护其他人免受不合理的伤害危险的法律义务范围内的行为，对其责任的认定取决于谨慎义务存在与否。
Introduction to Tort Law
Tort law is a body of law that addresses， and provides remedies for， civil wrongs not arising out of contractual obligations. A person who suffers legal damages may be able to usetort law to receive compensation from someone who is legally responsible， or liable， for those injuries. Generally speaking， tort law defines what constitutes a legal injury and establishes the circumstances under which one person may be held liable for another s injury.
Categories of torts
Torts may be categorized in a number of ways： one such is to divide them into Negligence Torts， and Intentional Torts.
The dominant action in tortis negligence. The tort of negligence provides a cause of action leading to damages， or to injunctive relief， in each case designed to protect legal rights， including those of personal safety， property， and， in some cases， intangible economic interests. Negligence actions include claims arising primarily from automobile accidents and personal injury accidents of many kinds， including clinical negligence， workers negligence and so forth.Product liability cases may also be considered negligence actions， but there is frequently a significant overlay of additional statutory content.
Among intentional torts may be certain torts arising out of the occupation or use of land. One such is the tort of nuisance， which connotes strict liability for a neighbor who interferes with another s enjoyment of his real property. Trespass allows owners to sue for incursions by a person （ or his structure， for example an overhanging building） on their land. There is a tort of false imprisonment， and a tort of defamation， where someone makes an unsupportable allegation represented to be factual which damages the reputation of another.
Negligence torts
Negligence is a tort which depends on the existence of a breach of duty of care owed by one person to another. One well-known case is Donoghue vs. Stevenson（ 1932） where Mrs. Donoghue consumed part of a drink containing a decomposed snail while in a public bar in Paisley， Scotland and claimed that it had made her ill. The snail had notbeen visible， as the bottle of ginger beer in which it was contained was opaque. Neither the friend who bought the bottle for her， nor the shopkeeper who sold it， were aware of the snail s presence. The manufacturer was Mr. Stevenson， whom Mrs. Donoghue sued for damages for negligence. She could not sue Mr. Stevenson for damages for breach of contract because there was no contract between them. The majority of the members of the House of Lords agreed that Mrs. Donoghue had a valid claim， but disagreed as to why such a claim should exist. Lord MacMillan thought this should be treated as a new product liability case. Lord Atkin argued that the law should recognize a unifying principle that we owe a duty of reasonable care to our neighbors. He quoted the Bible in support of his argument， specifically the general principle that“thou shalt love thy neighbor”. The elements of negligence are：
Duty of care；
Breach of that duty；
Breach being a proximate or not too remote a cause， in law；
Breach causing harm in fact.
Intentional torts
An intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor. The term negligence， on the other hand， pertains to a tort that simply results from the failure of the tortfeasor to take sufficient care in fulfilling a duty owed， while strict liability torts refers to situations where a party is liable for injuries no matter what precautions were taken.
Differences between negligence torts and intentional torts
The key difference between intentional torts and negligence torts is that the plaintiff must prove the additional element that the defendant acted with the specific intent or mental state of intentionally performing the act which was the proximate cause of the plaintiff s injuries. Under doctrines such as transferred intent， the plaintiff need not always prove that the defendant acted with the intent to bring about the specific injury that actually occurred.
Not every intentional action qualifies as an intentional tort. Suppose an investor holding more than half of a corporation s stock votes on changes the other stockholders find detrimental. If the other stockholders suffer damages as a result， this is nota tort， as the powerful investor had a right to vote whichever way he liked. Thus， the other stockholders cannotsue the aforementioned investor for damages. If， on the other hand， John Doe physically attacks a passerby in the street， and as a result the passerby incurs medical bills， John is liable for these costs， as he is guilty of the tort of battery.