Torts 03
Torts 03 : Medieval Period: The primordial origin of torts and crimes at common law was a system of compensation for wrongs, with no clear distinction between crimes and other wrongs. In Anglo-Saxon law, wrongs required payment of bot to wronged person or their clan, and wite paid to the king, based upon a victim's worth (weregild); these were also intended to prevent blood feuds. Items or creatures which caused death were also destroyed as deodands. The trespass action was a distinctive early tort in which damages were paid to the victim; if no payment was made, the defendant was imprisoned. Although the details of its exact origin are unclear, it became popular around 1250 and it may have arisen either out of the "Appeal of Felony" or disseisin or replevin. Later, after the Statute of Westminster 1285, the "trespass on the case" action arose for when the defendant did not direct force. The English Judicature Act passed 1873 through 1875 abolished the separate actions of trespass and trespass on the case. In 1401, the English case Beaulieu v Finglam imposed strict liability for the escape of fire; additionally, strict liability was imposed for the release of cattle. Negligently handling fire was of particular importance in these societies given capacity for destruction and relatively limited firefighting resources. Liability for common carrier, which arose around 1400, was also emphasized in the medieval period. Unintentional injuries were relatively infrequent in the medieval period. As transportation improved and carriages became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, however, collisions and carelessness became more prominent in court records. In general, scholars of England such as William Blackstone took a hostile view to litigation, and rules against champerty and maintenance and vexatious litigation existed. The restriction on assignment of a cause of action is a related rule based on public policy
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