The explanation of why torts don't apply to contracts goes back to the days when there were more distinct divisions of the judicial system with different courts and procedures than is now the case. Today civil law and criminal law are still distinct divisions, but formerly there was a division between courts of law and courts of equity. A tort may be defined as a wrongful act which is not a violation of the criminal code (if it were, it would be dealt with in the criminal court system) nor an act having to do with performance or non-performance under a contract (in which case it would be a matter of contract law). I believe that in the olden days torts were decided in courts of equity, contracts in courts of law.