CONCEPT OF PLACE OF WRONG / LOCYS DELICT (DEFINITION)

 A selection of a venue to serve as the nexus of a tort when the tort evolves from a series
of events, and for the purposes of establishing liability that may flow from the alleged
tort.

 Law of the place where the tort is committed

 The place of wrong is in the state where the last event necessary to make an actor liable
for an alleged tort takes place.

 The rule of lex loci delicti, when uniformly applied, fulfils the purpose as long as the
place of wrong is the place of acting, and even where it is the place of harm and harm at
that place could reasonably have been foreseen by the actor. However, where place of
wrong is interpreted as place of harm and harm at that place was not reasonably
foreseeable, the rule fails to fulfil its purpose, an antagonism arises between the ideal of
uniformity and that of protection of justified expectations, and unless we worship
uniformity for its own sake, the former ideal has to yield.

 Locus delicti is a Latin term which means the ‘scene of the crime.’ It is the place where
tort, offence, or injury was committed or the place where the last event necessary to make
the actor liable occurred. In case of civil proceedings it is the place where an alleged
thing was done. For example, the place where disputed property lies. Locus delicti gives
the court exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute or crime. Under common law, crimes are
local and it is cognizable and punishable exclusively in the country where it is
committed.

1. Common Law Concept – place where the wrongful act became effective, e.g. last event
necessary to make an actor liable for an alleged tort occurs.

Reasons:
a. Without an injury, there is nothing to protect and there is no necessity for judicial
relief
b. Vested rights theory – if the harm does not take place then the tort is not completed

2. Civil Law Rule – place where the tortuous act began

Reason: The legality or illegality of one’s act should be determined by the law of the state
where he is at the time he does the act
Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1673683.html
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1325198.html
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/P/PlaceoftheWrong.aspx
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13413&context=journal_articles
 3. Theory of Dr. Rabel – place where the important and substantial acts leading to the
tortuous act were committed/ place having the most substantial connection with the
wrongful act

APPLICATION

Illustration: A was hunting in State X, near the boundary of State Y. A accidentally shot B, who
was standing in State Y.

 When we apply the Common Law Concept, the locus delicti is State Y.
 Applying the Civil Law rule, the Locus delicti is State X which is the place where the
tortuous act began

JURISPRUDENCE

REBECCA SHAW v. LDC ENTERPRISES

Under this rule, the court applies the substantive laws of the state where the last event necessary
to make an actor liable for the alleged wrong takes place.

However, where the issue is the choice between the law of the place where an allegedly
wrongful act or omission took place and the law of the place where physical injury was inflicted,
the general rule is that the “place of the tort” is the place where the injury or death was inflicted
and not the place where the allegedly wrongful act or omission took place.

This is in accord with the Restatement rule. Restatement (First) of Conflict of Laws § 377
provides the place of a wrong is in the state where the last event necessary to make an actor
liable for an alleged tort takes place. “When a person causes another voluntarily to take a
deleterious substance which takes effect within the body, the place of wrong is where the
deleterious substance takes effect and not where it is administered.”

MELTON LLC FPP v. STEPHENS

“[W]here the issue is the choice between the law of the place where an allegedly wrongful act or
omission took place and the law of the place where physical injury was inflicted, the general rule
is that the ‘place of the tort’ is the place where the injury or death was inflicted and not the place
where the allegedly wrongful act or omission took place.”

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1673683.html
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1325198.html
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/P/PlaceoftheWrong.aspx
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13413&context=journal_articles