Unknown to most people, there is a very strong
distinction between "
assault" and "
battery" in
tort law.
For the tort of assault, the
victim need only have a
reasonable belief that there is a
threat of
injury. Assault is present when any
word or
action intends to make another person
fearful of
immediate physical harm.
No physical contact is necessary for assault.
Battery, on the other hand, is the
unprivileged,
intentional touching of another. No injuries need be
inflicted. If someone
playfully hugs you and you get
hurt, there is battery. If, however, you give
permission to the other
party to
hit you, and you get injured, you
cannot claim battery.
Also, as assault can
exist without battery, battery can exist without assault. Most times, however, these two
torts are
intertwined and thus these
cases are
tried accordingly.
Now,
hopefully people won't be
off and running to the
courts to claim assault or battery on other people, as most courts don't hear a claim unless there actually
is injury on the
plaintiff's
part.