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Tort: Defences and Remedies

Compensatory damages in tort

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 2 and 3

Overview

Aim of an award of compensatory damages in tort, special damages and general damages.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is the aim of an award of compensatory damages in tort?

Numbers

Which case states the compensatory principle?

Key term

What are special damages?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is the aim of an award of compensatory damages in tort?

    Model answer

    Compensatory damages aim to put the claimant into the position occupied before the tort was committed. The principle is known as restitutio in integrum.

  2. 2

    Which case states the compensatory principle?

    Model answer

    Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co (1880) said that damages should place the injured party in the position they would have occupied. Lord Blackburn's formulation is still cited today.

  3. 3

    What are special damages?

    Model answer

    Special damages are losses that can be calculated precisely up to the date of trial. Lost earnings, medical expenses and repair costs are all special damages.

  4. 4

    What are general damages?

    Model answer

    General damages are losses a court must estimate rather than calculate. Pain, suffering and loss of amenity and future loss of earnings fall under this head.

  5. 5

    Distinguish pecuniary from non-pecuniary loss.

    Model answer

    Pecuniary loss is financial loss capable of being expressed in money, such as lost wages. Non-pecuniary loss covers pain, suffering and the lost ability to enjoy life.

  6. 6

    What are nominal damages?

    Model answer

    Nominal damages are a token sum awarded where a right is infringed but no loss is suffered. A claim in trespass to land may end in nominal damages.

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