trespass on the case
- noun
- Archaic
:
trespaso en el caso
- In early English law, a plaintiff could bring a trespass on the case for injury indirectly caused by another's negligence.
Examples
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Before statutory reforms, victims often relied on trespass on the case rather than direct trespass for compensation.
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The doctrine of trespass on the case influenced the modern development of negligence claims.
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The trespass on the case was filed.
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Did you hear about the trespass on the case?
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In early English law, a plaintiff could bring a trespass on the case for indirect injuries caused by another's negligence.
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Before statutory reforms, victims often relied on trespass on the case to seek compensation for damages not directly caused by the offender.
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The doctrine of trespass on the case laid the foundation for modern negligence claims in civil law.
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a specialist legal/archaic term whose precise meaning — a particular tort action for indirect injury — cannot be deduced from the literal words 'trespass' (unauthorised interference) + 'on' + 'the' + 'case' ('case' as a dispute). The phrase functions as a technical legal idiom, so a B1 learner knowing the constituents would not predict the specific legal sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
The legal phrase trespass on the case comes from old English courts. The idea is that trespass named a direct physical wrong, but when harm was not direct people brought a written case or complaint about it, so the phrase came to mean 'a claim for indirect damage'.
