The intentional personal injury law, specifically called as the intentional tort law, applies when someone willfully causes personal injury to another person. This is within the domain of criminal acts and it can also land in severe punitive measures being imposed on the guilty party. People who become the victims of intentional personal injury are entitled to both monetary compensations and justice served in the form of punitive sentences being slapped on the party that is at fault.
In seeking compensation for an intentional act that has caused an injury, it needs to be proven that the act was performed in all consciousness by a person of a stable mind and was performed with the intent of causing an injury to the person it was directed towards. The responsible person, once found guilty, has to bear the compensation towards the victim for both the intended harm and for any harm that occurs more than the inflictor’s intention. Aside from the monetary compensation, the person causing the injury intentionally might also have to serve a prison sentence and other punitive measures could be applied by the court.
There is also a negligence factor involved in certain intentional personal injury cases, though they are decided upon after a very careful scrutiny of the facts of the case. If the crime occurs in an establishment where its negligence helped the person to commit the crime, then the establishment could be booked for negligence.
For instance, consider the case of a female patient raped by a male nurse that happens while the patient is admitted in the hospital. Though the hospital is not directly involved in this case, the court might decree that the hospital was irresponsible in screening its employees thoroughly or not providing enough measures to protect their vulnerable patients’ privacy. The hospital will then have to bear the expenses for its negligence while the nurse who committed the crime will have to bear the compensation as well as undergo punitive sentences, if any.
Defamation of character is also considered within intentional personal injury cases. Though there is no physical injury caused in such cases, character defamation without proper substantiation can entitle the victim to compensation, which is sought from the person who defames the victim’s character. Even in such cases, third parties can be involved. For instance, a journalist might publish a defamatory article about a celebrity in a magazine, but the magazine editor will also be held at fault because it is their responsibility to ensure that untrue statements aren’t printed in their magazine. Even the owners of the magazine can be brought to book in such a case.
For more information on the different types of Personal Injury accidents, please visit our Areas of Personal Injury page"