Intentional Tort

An intentional tort is a category of civil wrong in which the defendant acts with intent — meaning either a purpose to bring about a particular consequence or knowledge that the consequence is substantially certain to result. Unlike negligence, which turns on a failure to meet a standard of care, intentional torts require a deliberate act, though the defendant need not have intended the specific harm or known the act was unlawful.

Common intentional torts in Anglo-American common law include:

• Battery — harmful or offensive contact with another person.
• Assault — an act causing reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.
• False imprisonment — unlawful confinement within fixed boundaries.
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress — extreme and outrageous conduct causing severe emotional harm.
• Trespass to land and trespass to chattels — intentional intrusion on property or interference with personal property.
• Conversion — exercising dominion over another's property inconsistent with the owner's rights.
• Fraud (deceit) and defamation are also typically grouped here, though they have distinct elements.

The plaintiff generally must prove the act, the requisite intent, causation, and damages (though some torts, like trespass, are actionable without proof of actual harm). Defenses include consent, self-defense, defense of others or property, necessity, and privilege.

Intentional torts are conceptually distinct from crimes, although the same conduct (e.g., a punch) may give rise to both criminal prosecution by the state and a civil suit by the victim. The civil standard of proof is the preponderance of the evidence, lower than the criminal beyond a reasonable doubt standard. Because the conduct is willful, courts may award punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages, particularly where the defendant acted maliciously or with reckless disregard for the plaintiff's rights.

In civil-law jurisdictions, analogous claims fall under doctrines of délit or delict rather than tort, but the underlying concept of liability for intentional wrongful conduct is broadly recognized.