Download the purpose of civil remedies - Year 12 - Legal Studies

Civil remedies
The AIM of civil remedies is to restore the parties to their
ORIGINAL POSITION BEFORE THE HARM WAS CAUSED
Remember!
 While there are many remedies available, the study
design specifically states that you must know
DAMAGES and INJUNCTIONS. You should be able to
describe these remedies and discuss their ability to
achieve the purpose of civil remedies.
Damages
 Damages can involve an amount of money paid by the
defendant to the plaintiff in settlement of their claim.
They are the most common types of remedy and
there are several types:
Compensatory Damages
 Damages that aim to compensate the plaintiff for the injury
suffered, to the extent that money is able to do so.
Compensatory damages:
1. specific/special damages: readily identifiable costs for which
monetary value can be calculated (medical bills, loss of income)
2. General damages: not so easy to calculate as they take into
account the IMPACT of the injury on the plaintiff’s
PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE (pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life,
future loss of wages)
Remember!
 Compensation is NOT a type of civil remedy, nor it is
the purpose of civil remedies. AVOID using this term
in descriptions and definitions.
Aggravated Damages
 Additional compensation received for the humiliation
suffered by the plaintiff due to the defendant’s
offensive or particularly nasty conduct
Exemplary Damages
 Where a large sum of money is awarded to the
plaintiff with the aim of punishing the defendant and
making a example of them for engaging in such
grossly reckless, malicious or cruel behaviour
( also called punitive damages)
Nominal Damages
 Where only small amounts of money are awarded to
the plaintiff, as they are more concerned with proving
a legal point than recovering money, and there may
be no significant injury suffered.
Contemptuous damages
 Contemptuous damages-small amount to the plaintiff
in contempt of the claim made.
 Whilst it is not always possible for damages to return an
injured party to the position and condition they were in
before the harm caused by the defendant occurred,
damages try to do so, as much as money is possible. This
could be through specific damages for pain and suffering,
loss of enjoyment of life and so on. If the injury suffered by
the plaintiff is a financial loss, then damages are more able
to restore them to their former position
Injunctions
 Injunctions can try to return an injured party to a
position they were in before the harm occurred, by
ordering the defendant to stop the behaviour that is
causing harm or to compel them to perform an act
Injunctions
 An injunction is a court order against a losing party in a civil
case that either prohibits them from performing a
particular act (prohibitive or restrictive injunction), or
compels them to perform a particular act (mandatory
injunction)
 Injunctions can be short term/temporary
(provisional/interim injunction)
 or permanent (perpetual injunction)
Enforcement of civil remedies
 A warrant of distress- If the defendant fails to pay the
amount awarded by the court. Then the court can order
that property owned by the defendant be seized and sold to
recover sufficient funds to ay the amount owing.
 A garnishee order- The plaintiff can apply to the court for a
garnishee order. This compels a third party who owes
money to the defendant to pay the plaintiff.
 An attachment of earnings- This instructs the defendant’s
employer to deduct the amount owing from the
defendant’s wages or salary
 A writ of sequestration- enables the court to seize or
control land or property owned by the defendant until the
debt is paid.
Enforcement of civil remedies
 Bankruptcy and liquidation- the plaintiff can apply to
have the defendant’s assets placed under the control
of an independent person or trustee. This means the
defendant is declared bankrupt. The defendant’s
assets are sold and the proceeds distributed. This
does not always guarantee the plaintiff absolute
recovery of the judgment debt.
Enforcement of civil remedies
 Imprisonment- if the defendant fails to comply with a
court order, the plaintiff can take action to have the
defendant imprisoned for contempt of court. This
does not mean the defendant doesn’t have to comply
with the original order. In addition to the prison
sentence, the court will take the necessary steps to
ensure that the original court order is met.