Contemptuos & Exemplary Damages

8/2/2019 Contemptuos & Exemplary Damages

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CONTEMPTUOUS &EXEMPLARY DAMAGES

Does they serve the objective of Restitutio InIntegrum?

Habibah Hadzim & Khadijah

Abdul Rahim


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Contemptuous

Damages


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ContemptuousDamages

Courtdisapproves Ps

claim

P does not have a

good claim

Wasting thecourts time

Amount ofdamages is the

smallestdenomination ofmoney

Common inaction of libel,

assault and falseimprisonment.


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Gurcharan Singh v Penguasa Tempat TahananPerlindungan Kamunting Taiping

False Imprisonment

Court held : The detention was unlawful, but courtawarded RM 1 by way of damages.

Instead of resting his good fortune, he chose to turn

against the government claiming damages on technical

error, such action is deplorable and to display itsutmost displeasure and revulsion towards the Psclaim, this court hereby awards a sum of RM 1 asnominal damages to the P per James Foong J


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Exemplary Damages


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ExemplaryDamages

Deterrence

Punishment for DUsually awarded

in a very highamount

Violating Ps right

as well asinsulting and

reprehensiblemanner


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When will court award exemplary

damages? (Rookes v Barnard)

2

Ds act has

been

calculated byhim to bring

him profit(exceed the

amount ofcompensationthat he has to

pay to P)

3

Defamation

publisherhad nogenuine

belief in the

truth ofwhat he had

published

1

P has been a

victim ofoppressive,

arbitrary, andunconstitutionalact of a servant

of thegovernment


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P has been a victim of oppressive, arbitrary, and

unconstitutional act of a servant of the government

Foong Chee Chong v Ins Mohd Nasir Shamsuddin

Breach of trust

Court held : No need to award exemplary damages.

The items were misappropriated by the wife of thefirst defendant and that could not be regarded asarbitrariness or oppressiveness on the part of the firstdefendant or the police department. The P thereforehad failed to make out a case for exemplary damages

per Ian HC Chin J


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Ds act has been calculated by him to bring him profit

(exceed the amount of compensation that he has to

pay to P)

Sin Heap Lee-Marubeni Sdn Bhd v Yip Shou Shan

Trespass to land

Trial Court awarded 3.2 million for compensatory

damages (exemplary damages: RM 900,000)

A appealed, but appeal was dismissed.

Conduct of A not only calculated to result in

profit but also total disregard to their neighbour


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Defamation publisher had no genuine belief in the

truth of what he had published

Cassell & Co Ltd v Broome

Defamation

D realized that the profits which he wouldobtain from the sale of the book would more

than compensate for the amount of damages

that he would have to pay to the P.

Court award 15,000 for compensatory

damages and 25,000 for exemplary damages.


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Restitutio In Integrum (RII)

Restoration to the original position

The objective of this principle is to restore the Pto his position prior to the commission of the

tort. RII is the sum of money which will put the party

who has been injured or who has suffered in the

same position as he would have been in if he had

not sustain the wrong for which he is now gettinghis compensation or reparation Livingstone vRawyards Coal Co


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Opinion regarding RII

It is impossible to compensate for non-

pecuniary loss in the sense of achieving RII

because unlike pecuniary loss, this type of

damage is not directly translatable into

monetary terms

- Death talk: the case against euthanasia and physician-assisted

suicide by Margaret A. Somerville


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Heliliah Mohd Yusof JCA

In Bumiputera-Commerce Bank Bhd v Top-A Plastic Sdn Bhd

In almost all actions for breach of contract, and in manyactions for tort, the principle ofrestitutio in integrum is an

adequate and fairly easy guide to the estimation ofdamage, because the damage suffered can be estimated byrelation to some material lossNevertheless in all actionsin which damages, purely compensatory in character, areawarded for suffering, from the purely pecuniary point of

view the plaintiff may be better off. The principle ofrestitutio in integrum, which compels the use of money asits sole instrument for restoring the status quo, necessarilyinvolves a factor larger than any restoring pecuniary loss.


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Does contemptuous damages serve

the objective of RII?

Contemptuous Damages : No, it does notserve the objective of RII.

In the first place, the Ps claim was not of a

good one(bad claim)-should have never beenbrought.

Damages of this kind may imperil the

claimants chances of getting his cost. As a result, P is awarded with very small and

trifle sum.


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Exemplary Damages?

Yes. The compensation given to the plaintiff is high

and usually more/bigger sum than what hesuffers.

Exemplary damages is awarded in addition to

General & Special Damages. Thus, it serves the objective of RII- to restore P in

the position prior to the tort/wrong committed.


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THANK YOU

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Contemptuos & Exemplary Damages