What does assault involve in a legal sense?

In a legal sense, assault specifically involves the act of making a threat or attempting to cause physical harm to another person, even if no physical contact occurs. This means that the focus of assault is on the intent and the perception of the victim rather than on actual physical injury. For example, if someone raises a fist in a threatening manner or verbally threatens another individual, such behavior can be classified as assault because it creates a reasonable fear of imminent harm in the victim.

While physical harm is certainly a serious matter and relates to other legal concepts, such as battery, assault fundamentally concerns the threat itself rather than the outcome of that threat being executed. Consent to treatment involves a different legal principle related to patient rights and autonomy and does not pertain to the definition of assault in a legal context. So, understanding that assault is primarily about the threat of injury and the intention behind it helps clarify this important legal distinction.