Assault
Category: legal
An intentional act that creates a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.
In tort law, you don’t have to touch the person to commit assault. If you threaten someone with an object in a way that makes them reasonably fear they are about to be hit, you have committed the tort of assault, even if you never actually made physical contact.
Common Examples
- Raising a fist as if to strike the plaintiff while shouting threats constitutes the tort of assault, creating an immediate fear of battery.
- Assault is distinct from battery because it focuses entirely on the victim’s mental state of apprehension.