ABSTRACT
This means literally ‘legal injury without damage’. Normally, in order to succeed in tort, the plaintiff must prove that he has suffered actual damage (for example, injury to his person or property or reputation) as well as legal injury. There are some torts, however, where actual damage need not be proved and it is sufficient to show an infringement of the plaintiff’s legal rights (that is, legal injury). Torts which are actionable without proof of damage are known as ‘torts actionable per se’: examples are trespass, which is actionable although no harm at all is caused to the land, person or chattel, as the case may be, and libel (that is, defamation in written form), which is also actionable although no actual damage9 is proved.
