On Sunday 01 November 2009 10:03:58 pm Christofer C. Bell wrote:
If your dog keeps pooping in my yard, there's nothing illegal about that.
If there's a law against it, it's illegal.
However, I can sue you in civil court because you have caused "harm" to me
If there isn't a law against it, you have no basis for suing.
(allowing your dog to pollute my property).
Fertiliser isn't pollution! :p
Civil trials are used to determine "who was injured" (another legal term) and to asses compensation (yet another legal term), not to determine if any laws were broken. No one goes to jail or gets a criminal record for losing a civil dispute.
If no laws were broken, you cannot establish culpability for non-criminal injury. If you get hurt because I do something legal, I have no obligation to compensate you for it.