What does an intentional tort refer to?

An intentional tort refers to a wrongful act that is knowingly committed with the intention to cause harm or foreseeably result in harm to another individual or entity. In these cases, the individual who has committed the tort acted deliberately, understanding that their actions could lead to injury or damage. This distinguishes intentional torts from other legal concepts, such as negligence, where harm is caused without the intention behind the act.

For instance, if a person purposely hits someone during an argument, this constitutes an intentional tort because the act was carried out with the intent to cause injury. The law recognizes several types of intentional torts, including assault, battery, false imprisonment, and trespass, each characterized by this intentionality.

The options that mention unintentional acts, negligence, or breach of contract do not accurately embody the essence of what an intentional tort is. Unintentional acts involve negligence, which occurs when an individual fails to act with reasonable care, leading to unintended harm. Breach of contract focuses on the failure to fulfill a contractual obligation and does not involve harmful acts against another party in the same context as intentional torts do. Therefore, the correct answer accurately reflects the definition of an intentional tort as a knowingly committed wrongful act.