scienter

The scienter action is a category within tort law in some common law jurisdictions that deals with the damage done by an animal directly to a human. Tort law is designed to offer retribution for civil wrongs.{{Cite journal |last=Parker |first=Reginald |date=1951 |title=The General Tort Law of Personal Injuries |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jatla8&div=10&id=&page= |journal=NACCA Law Journal |volume=8 |pages=156-173 |via=HeinOnline}} Scienter within tort law had a long history in English law until it was abolished by the Animals Act 1971.{{Cite journal |last=Chevalier-Watts |first=Juliet |date=1 December 2007 |title=Civil liability for animals |url=https://pure.solent.ac.uk/en/publications/civil-liability-for-animals |journal=Mountbatten Journal of Legal Studies |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=56–101 |via=Southampton Solent University}}{{Cite journal |last=Barker |first=Francois |date=1993–1994 |title=The Animals Act 1971: A Dog's Breakfast |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/holdslr16&div=15&id=&page= |journal=Holdsworth Law Review |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=145–169 |via=HeinOnline}} An action in the common law jurisdictions in which it has not been extinguished by statute is in addition to the torts of negligence and nuisance or more bespoke torts like cattle trespass.{{Cite journal |last=Osborough |first=W. N. |date=1978 |title=Strict Liability for Animals |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44027564 |journal=Irish Jurist (1966–) |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=182–185 |issn=0021-1273 |jstor=44027564}} If an animal is known to behave in a certain way and is expressed on a person causing injury, an action can be taken in this tort, which also is not available in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, or New Zealand. In those jurisdictions, the actions involving animals need to be in nuisance or negligence.{{Cite web |title=Civil Liability for Animals [1970] NSWLRC 8 |url=https://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/other/nswlrc/1970/8.html |access-date=21 February 2025 |website=New South Wales Law Reform Commission — Reports}}

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To be successful, the plaintiff needs to take action against the person in control of the animal. The plaintiff can file a complaint to initiate a lawsuit to recover damages.{{Cite web |title=tort |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/tort |access-date=17 March 2025 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute}} It is strict liability, requiring no more than proof of injury, the animal's having a problematic trait, and the knowledge of the person in control about the trait in the animal. Strict liability means that there is no need to argue fault in the form of wilful intent or negligence on the part of the animal or its controller. The only defence is if it can be proved the plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risk of injury by their actions, or if the plaintiff was the cause of the injury.{{Cite journal |last1=Karp |first1=Adam P. |last2=Fershtman |first2=Julie I. |date=2009 |title=Recent Developments in Animal Tort and Insurance Law |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25763916 |journal=Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=185–244 |issn=1543-3234 |jstor=25763916}}

It is common to distinguish between harmless animals and wild animals, as no scienter is needed for wild animals as long as they are native to their respective regions.{{Cite journal |last=Donaldson |first=James H. |date=April 1969 |title=Liability Arising from Owning or Harboring Animals |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/defcon36&div=52&id=&page= |journal=Insurance Counsel Journal |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=268-278 |via=HeinOnline}} Animals are classed as wild or harmless on the basis of species or kind, not on the basis of being a tame individual.{{Cite journal |last=Cook |first=Peter |date=1993–1994 |title=Before the Animals Act: The Historical Fiction of a Base Property in Dogs and the Paradox of Scienter Liability |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/holdslr16&div=14&id=&page= |journal=Holdsworth Law Review |volume=16 |pages=119 |via=HeinOnline}} An elephant is considered wild regardless of its use.{{Cite journal |last=S. |first=E. O. |date=1899 |title=Injuries by Domestic Animals |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/751893 |journal=Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=54–61 |issn=1479-5973 |jstor=751893}} The scienter action is referred to in Rylands v. Fletcher in that one who keeps a wild thing "must keep it at his peril" to make reference to part of Justice Colin Blackburn's comment.{{cite court |litigants=Rylands v Fletcher |reporter=LR 3 HL 330 |court=House of Lords |date=1868 |url=https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1868/1.html}}

{{Cite journal |last=Fordham |first=Margaret |date=1995 |title=The Demise of the Rule in Rylands v Fletcher? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24866734 |journal=Singapore Journal of Legal Studies |pages=1–28 |issn=0218-2173 |jstor=24866734}}

Scienter is generally used as a necessary condition of certain causes of civil action and as a standard for civil liability or criminal guilt. For instance, Section 1960 of Title 18 of the United States Code provides a scienter condition, requiring that the accused "knowingly conducts, controls, manages, supervises, directs, or owns" a prohibited type of business.{{usc|18|1960}}

The concept of scienter is uniformly expressed in the text of the U.S. Code as the word know, appearing as "knowingly", "actual knowledge", "known", "knowledge fairly implied", etc.{{cite court |litigants=Rehaif v. United States |vol=558 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=225 |court=Supreme Court of the United States |date=2019 |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-9560_e2p3.pdf}}{{Cite tech report |url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46836 |title=Mens Rea: An Overview of State-of-Mind Requirements for Federal Criminal Offenses |date=7 July 2021 |url-status=live |publisher=Congressional Research Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320124855/https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46836 |archive-date=March 20, 2025 }} The word scienter is not used in the text of the U.S. Code, although it appears once in a section title.{{usc|15|7706}} This use reflects the development of American law speaking plainly in its statutes.{{USPL | 111 | 274 | Plain Writing Act of 2010}}

Scienter is also an element of the contract law cause of action for breach of contract in which the aggrieved party alleges some destruction of the meeting of the minds, also known as mutual assent, because of fraud, misrepresentation, or duress per minas.{{Cite journal |last=Parchomovsky |first=Gideon |last2=Stein |first2=Alex |date=1 July 2017 |title=Empowering Individual Plaintiffs |url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol102/iss5/3/ |journal=Cornell Law Review |volume=102 |issue=5 |pages=1319-1366 |issn=0010-8847 |via=Cornell University Law Library}} Distinguishing innocent misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation involves determining if scienter exists. In contract fraud, scienter is defined as intent to deceive.{{Cite journal |last=Hunter |first=Richard J. |last2=Shannon |first2=John H. |last3=Amoroso |first3=Henry J. |date=30 December 2023 |title=A Teaching Note on Contracts |url=https://www.asianinstituteofresearch.org/EQRarchives/A-Teaching-Note-on-Contracts |journal=Education Quarterly Reviews |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=12-38 |doi=10.31014/aior.1993.06.04.783}}{{Cite journal |last=Powers |first=William |last2=Niver |first2=Margaret |date=1992 |title=Negligence, Breach of Contract, and the “Economic Loss” Rule |url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/items/43141dc4-3119-4d38-85f8-6d650cb48f09 |journal=Texas Tech Law Review |volume=23 |pages=477-523 |via=Texas Tech University Libraries}}

Scienter can also be used as a defence to a breach of contract lawsuit.{{Cite web |last=Christian |first=George |date=5 May 2023 |title=SCOTX Maintains Common Law Scienter Requirement for Misrepresentations on Insurance Application |url=https://tcjl.com/scotx-maintains-common-law-scienter-requirement-for-misrepresentations-on-insurance-application/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515195415/https://tcjl.com/scotx-maintains-common-law-scienter-requirement-for-misrepresentations-on-insurance-application/ |archive-date=15 May 2023 |access-date=22 February 2025 |website=Texas Civil Justice League}}

In the United States, to prevail in a securities fraud claim under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a plaintiff must allege and prove that the defendant acted with scienter.{{usc|15|78u-4}}{{cite court |litigants= Aaron v. SEC |vol=446 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=680 |court=Supreme Court of the United States |date=1980 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/446/680/}}

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 added the requirement that a plaintiff must plead facts giving rise to a "strong inference" of scienter.{{Cite journal |last=Choi |first=Stephen J. |date=2007 |title=Do the Merits Matter Less after the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40058194 |journal=Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=598–626 |doi=10.1093/jleo/ewm014 |issn=8756-6222 |jstor=40058194}}{{Cite journal |last=Klausner |first=Michael |date=October 2009 |title=Personal Liability of Officers in US Securities Class Actions |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14735970.2009.11421545 |journal=Journal of Corporate Law Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=349–366 |doi=10.1080/14735970.2009.11421545 |issn=1473-5970 |via=Taylor & Francis Online|url-access=subscription }} The meaning of scienter under the 1995 law has been controversial since its enactment. The United States Supreme Court issued a decision that clarified what was to be understood as a "strong inference." In Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., an 8–1 ruling of the Court defined the standard that the plaintiff had to meet to proceed with a securities fraud litigation. A complaint must show "cogent and compelling evidence" of scienter.{{cite court |litigants=Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. |vol=551 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=308 |court=Supreme Court of the United States |date=2007 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/308/}}{{Cite journal |last=Ball |first=Ray |date=May 2009 |title=Market and Political/Regulatory Perspectives on the Recent Accounting Scandals |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-679X.2009.00325.x |journal=Journal of Accounting Research |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=277–323 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-679X.2009.00325.x |issn=0021-8456 |via=Wiley Online Library}}{{Cite news |last=Labaton |first=Stephen |date=22 June 2007 |title=Investors’ Suits Face Higher Bar, Justices Rule |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/washington/22bizcourt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217025621/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/washington/22bizcourt.html |archive-date=17 February 2023 |access-date=23 February 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

• Intrinsic fraud
• Fraud
• Mens rea
• Per minas
• Relativism

• [https://corporate.findlaw.com/finance/split-widens-on-scienter-pleading-standard-under-the-pslra.html Split Widens on Scienter Pleading Standard Under the PSLRA], Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

{{Subject bar|portal1=Law|wikt=scienter|d=y}}

Category:Contract law

Category:United States securities law

Category:Criminal law

Category:Tort law

Category:Lawsuits

Category:Intention

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