UTAH TORT LEGAL INFORMATION

WHAT IS A TORT?

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Black's Law Dictionary defines "tort" as follows:

"A private or civil wrong or injury, other than breach of contract, for which the law will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages."

"Civil" means "relating to private rights and remedies sought by civil actions as contrasted with criminal proceedings."

"Action" means "a suit brought in a court."

"Damages" means "a sum of money awarded to a person injured by the tort of another."

Some of the simplest and clearest definitions of Utah tort legal principles are contained in the Utah Model Jury Instructions. 

According to Black's Law Dictionary a jury instruction is "a statement made by the judge to the jury informing them of the law applicable to the case."

The Utah Supreme Court has an advisory committee for civil instructions working to draft new and amended instructions to conform to Utah tort legal principles.

The Court relies on its committees and their subcommittees, consisting of lawyers of varied interests and expertise, to subject the model instructions to a full and open critical appraisal.

An accurate statement of the Utah legal principles is critical to instructing the jury, but accuracy is meaningless if the statement is not understood - or is misunderstood - by jurors. Therefore, MUJI 2d is intended to be an accurate statement of the law using simple structure and, where possible, words of ordinary meaning.

The Utah tort legal principles contained in the MUJI 2d will be a continual work in progress, with new and amended instructions being published periodically on the state court web site.

The Utah Supreme Court encourages lawyers and judges to share their experience and suggestions with the advisory committees. Judges and lawyers who draft a clearer Utah tort legal principle instruction than is contained in these model instructions should share it with the appropriate committee.

Judges should instruct the jurors at times during the trial when the instruction will most help the jurors. Many Utah tort principle legal instructions historically given at the end of the trial may be given at the beginning or during the trial so that jurors know what to expect.

Judges should provide a copy of the written instructions to each juror. This allows each juror to follow the instructions as they are read and to refer to them during deliberations.