Damages

Damages are sums of money, awarded by civil courts to persons found to be victims of wrongful acts, which must be paid to the victim by the person or persons proven to be legally responsible. Compensatory damages are intended simply to compensate the victim for losses resulting from wrongful conduct. But there are also punitive damages, awarded not merely to compensate the victim but to punish a particularly outrageous wrongdoer.

Money damages are the primary form of relief given by the American and English courts. The reason for the predominance of money damages lies in the historical division of Anglo-American courts into courts of laws and courts of equity. The law courts, which existed before courts of equity, had power only to award money damages. Courts of equity were later established to supplement the law courts, and they dealt only with cases in which adequate relief could not be obtained from a court of law. The relief given by courts of equity, or equitable relief, includes specific performance, a remedy that requires a person to perform the obligations that he agreed to perform by the terms of a contract, and injunctions, orders to compel a person to do or to refrain from doing particular acts. Although, in the United States, the two sets of courts have now been merged, the distinction between relief at law and relief in equity continues. Equitable relief is available only if money damages would be inadequate.

Compensatory Damages

Damages in tort cases (cases involving wrongful acts resulting in injury to a person or property) are usually calculated to put the victim into as good a position as he would have been in had the wrong not been committed. Such items as medical expenses, loss of income due to inability to work as the result of an injury, and compensation for pain and suffering, are taken into account in damages awarded to a tort victim who suffers a personal injury. Where the injury is to property, damages may be based on value of the property, if it is destroyed, or cost of repairs, if damaged.

Where the wrong involved is a breach of contract, damages are based on what the victim would have received had the contract been performed. Where a person who agreed to sell certain goods at a stated price fails to do so, the would-be buyer is entitled to damages in an amount that would permit him to buy the goods on the open market without having to spend more than the price stipulated in the contract. Thus, the damages in breach of contract cases represent the value of the contractual bargain lost, rather than compensation for personal injuries or an actual loss of property as in tort cases.

Roles of Judge and Jury

In both tort and contract cases, when the trial is before a jury, damages are assessed by the jury in accord with directions from the judge as to the proper measure of damages. Thus, the judge will instruct the jury to follow a particular formula and will also tell it what items of loss to take into account. The jury, if it finds the defendant liable, decides on the actual dollar amount to be awarded. When the jury's decision as to damages is grossly inadequate or excessive, the judge may set it aside and either order a new trial or give the parties an opportunity to accept an amount set by him instead.

Damages do not include compensation for items of loss that are highly speculative or not directly related to the injury. Also, a victim of a wrongful act is under a duty to take all reasonable steps to keep his losses to a minimum. Therefore, he will not be awarded damages for losses he could have prevented by reasonable action taken after the initial wrong occurred.

Punitive Damages

In certain tort cases where the wrongdoer has acted in a particularly wanton manner, a victim will be awarded punitive or "exemplary" damages, in addition to damages sufficient to compensate him for the injury. Punitive damages are awarded to punish the wrongdoer rather than just to compensate the victim.

Treble Damages

Some regulatory statutes, such as the U. S. antitrust laws, stipulate that a victim of a violation of these statutes is entitled to three times the amount of his loss, or treble damages. Here the purpose of the additional damages is not only to punish the person who violates the statutes but also to encourage private individuals to bring law suits based on such violations, thereby serving the public interest.