The aim of this paper is to analyze the cultural framework that sustains the in- and out-of-court adjudication processes of tort law disputes. The analysis is meant to: (a) show how notions, practices, and remedies of tort law “in action” vary across different social and cultural settings; (b) to enable us to better appreciate the overall role that tort law plays, in both Western and non-Western legal traditions, in responding to, and managing social conflict. A task which tort law fulfills operating amidst a multiplicity of legal layers, grounded on positive as well as on non-positive law.
