{"id":7031,"date":"2017-11-06T22:43:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T22:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=7031"},"modified":"2023-02-11T22:44:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T22:44:48","slug":"liability-the-quality-state-or-condition-of-being-legally-obligated-or-accountable","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=7031","title":{"rendered":"Liability – legally obligated or accountable; a debt enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This page is continued from Civil Law Self-Help Walkthrough<\/a> >>>> Section 1 – Torts, Breaches of Contract, and Assessing Liability<\/em><\/a>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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liability<\/span>:<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span>n<\/em>. (18c.)<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Legal responsibility, either civil or criminal.\u00a0 the condition of being bound in law and justice to pay an indebtedness or discharge some obligation.<\/span>\u00a0 Feil v Coeur D’Alene<\/em>, 23 Idaho 32, 129 P 643<\/span>.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The state or condition of a person after he has breached his contract or violated any obligation resting upon him.\u00a0<\/span> Lattin v Gillette<\/em>, 95 Cal 317 30 P 545<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A word of different meanings, the pertinent one to be gathered from the context in which it appears, construed in the light of surrounding\u00a0 circumstances.<\/span>\u00a0 Evans v Kroh<\/em> (Ky) 284 SW2d 329, 58 ALR2d 1446<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes synonymous with “debt.”\u00a0<\/span> Anno: 58 ALR2d 1453<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Within the meaning of a statute of limitations: \u2014 under one view, a contract obligation; under another view, responsibility, embracing tort liability as well as contract liability.<\/span>\u00a0 34 Am J1st Lim Ac \u00a7 94<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the word appears in a limitation on the creation of debt or liability of a state in excess of a prescribed amount: \u2014 a term having special reference to the warrant and legislative authority on which a state contract must rest, and on which alone a public debt must find a sanction in order to obligate the state.<\/span>\u00a0 49 Am J1st States \u00a7 66<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong> [1]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Although broadly speaking \u201cliability,\u201d as used in the law, means legal responsibility, it is a general term whose precise meaning depends upon the context in which it appears. Among its usages are: a debt one is required to pay; an obligation one must discharge; the circumstance one is in when he has breached a contract; a person\u2019s responsibility after she has committed a tort that causes injury It is also accurate to speak of the \u201ccriminal liability\u201d of a person who has violated a criminal statute.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2. In everyday speech a burden or an unfavorable situation or circumstance.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>[2]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. The quality; state, or condition of being legally obligated or accountable; legal\u00a0<\/strong>responsibility to another or to society, enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment<\/strong> <liability\u00a0for injuries caused by negligence>. \u2014 aka<\/span> legal liability<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; subjection<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; responsibility<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. A\u00a0<\/strong>financial or pecuniary obligation in a specified amount; DEBT<\/strong> <tax liability> <assets & liabilities>\u00a0[3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from\u00a0<\/strong>William R. Anson’s\u00a0Principles of the Law of Contract<\/a>:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u201cThe term ‘liability’ is one of the least double signification, in\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>one sense is the synonym of duty, the correlative of right; in this sense it\u00a0<\/strong>is the opposite e of privilege or liberty. If a duty rests upon a party,\u00a0<\/strong>society is now commanding performance by him & threatening\u00a0<\/strong>penalties. In a second sense, the term ‘liability’ is the correlative of\u00a0<\/strong>power & the opposite of immunity. \u00a0In this case society is not yet\u00a0<\/strong>commanding performance, but it will so command if the possessor of\u00a0<\/strong>the power does some operative act. If one has a power, the other has a\u00a0<\/strong>liability. \u00a0It would be wise to adopt the second sense exclusively. \u00a0<\/strong>Accurate legal thinking is difficult when the fundamental terms have\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>shifting senses.<\/span>\u201d <\/strong>[4]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from John Salmond’s Jurisprudence<\/a><\/em>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cLiability or responsibility is the bond of necessity that exists\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>between the wrongdoer & the remedy of the wrong. \u00a0This vinculum\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>juris<\/em> is not one of a mere duty or obligation; it pertains not to the\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>sphere of ought but to that of must.<\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/strong>[5]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. A state\u2019s liability or responsibility that arises even in the absence of any intention or negligence imputable to the state.\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 aka<\/span> absolute\u00a0<\/strong>responsibility<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. [3]
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Legal Terms similar to “Liability”:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

culpable<\/span><\/a> – guilty or at fault; often used in cases of breach of duty.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n