English tort law concerns
civil wrongs, as distinguished from
criminal wrongs, in the
law of England and Wales. Some wrongs are the concern of the state, and so the
police can enforce the law on the wrongdoers in court – in a criminal case. A tort is not enforced by the police, and it is a civil action taken by one
citizen against another, and tried in a court in front of a
judge (only rarely, in certain cases of
defamation, with a
jury). Tort derives from
middle English for "injury", from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin
tortum, from
Latin, neuter of
tortus "twisted", from past participle of
torquere.