Tort Claims Act Definition

A federal or state law that waives the government's sovereign immunity under certain conditions, allowing lawsuits by people who claim they've been harmed by negligent or intentional torts (wrongful acts) by a government or its employees. Before the enactment of tort claims acts, governments couldn't be sued without the legislature's specific consent.

The federal version is the Federal Tort Claims Act. Here's an example of a state (Pennsylvania) tort claims act.