Tort Law and Criminal Law, Generally In a general way, the

purposes of tort law and criminal law are similar. Tort law and criminal
law are both used to identify wrongdoers. Tort law and criminal law are
both used to take corrective action against wrongdoers. Tort law and
criminal law are both used to deter others from being wrongdoers. Tort
law and criminal law are both used to discourage self-help.
Criminal Law The overall purpose of criminal law is to provide some
basic protection to society from clearly ant-social acts. Although crimes
may have immediate victims (e.g., the owners of homes burned down by
an arsonist), the ultimate victim of crime is society (e.g., the danger to
everyone if an arsonist is not stopped). As a result, the focus of criminal
law is on the person committing the crime. The focus of criminal law is
on deciding if a person is a criminal and, if so, how the person should be
punished. There is a sense in which criminal law is for the criminal.
As a general rule, in a criminal case, the financial harm suffered by the
victim as a result of a crime is not the issue. Instead, there is an
assumption in criminal law that tort law exists to compensate the victim
for the victim's financial harm.
Tort Law Tort law is a kind of civil law, like family law, property law,
and contract law. Torts are some general standards of civil conduct. As a
practical matter, torts are nothing more than a collection of theories for
suing people for money and, if permitted, other remedies. The theme is
that victims of torts are entitled to compensation for breach of the
particular duties owed to them beyond family law, property law, and
contract law. The focus of tort law is what the victim can do about the
financial harm the victim has suffered.
Whereas there is an assumption in criminal law that tort law exists to
compensate the victim for the victim's financial harm, the opposite is not
true. There is no assumption in tort law that criminal law exists. Some
wrongful conduct is a tort but not a crime, and vice versa. As general
rule, in tort law, the financial harm suffered by the victim as a result of a
tort is the only issue.