INTRODUCTION
Damages are Remedies are some important concepts in Tort Law. two types of remedies are available to the victim of a tort. They are classified into the following two categories (a) Judicial Remedies and (b) Extra-Judicial remedies. Damagés and injunctions are merely two different forms of remedies against the same wrong. The third remedy is the specific restitution of property.
CROSS-REFERENCE
- Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973
MEANING OF REMEDIES
Violation of right is prevented, redressed, or compensated.
DEFINITION OF REMEDIES
According to Black’s Law Dictionary:
The means of enforcing a right or preventing or redressing a wrong, legal or equitable relief.
BASIS OF THE CONCEPT
It is based on the maxim “Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium” which means that there is no wrong without a remedy.
REMEDIES IN TORT
The remedies available with respect to a tort are of two kinds.
A. Judicial remedies
B. Extra-Judicial remedies
A. JUDICIAL REMEDIES:
These are remedies that are granted by the court. Remedies are said to be judicial when they are granted by the Court in an action filed by the injured party against the wrong-doer.
The following are the kinds of Judicial Remedies;
1. DAMAGES:
Definition:
According to Oxford Dictionary Of Law
A sum of money awarded by a court as compensation for a tort.
Explanation:
Damages are the sum that is paid under the order of the court for compensation. Damages are the pecuniary satisfaction that a plaintiff may obtain by success in an action. Only those damages can be recovered which are the direct consequences of a wrongful act.
Kinds of Damages:
Damages are divided into the following five kinds;
(i) Contemptuous Damages:
They are awarded where technically a legal wrong is committed. Here, the circumstances are of such nature that the court brings no action. i.e. They are awarded usually in actions of defamation.
(ii) Nominal Damages:
They are awarded by the court to the plaintiff, not by way of compensation, but by way of recognition of some legal right of his which the defendant has infringed, e.g., trespass, invasion of a right of an easement, etc.
Case Law: Ashby Vs White
(iii) Substantial Damages:
They are a sum of money that is awarded to the plaintiff as fair and equitable compensation for the injury suffered by him. Such damages are awarded in a great majority of actions in tort.
(iv) Exemplary Damages:
These are awarded not to compensate the plaintiff, but to punish the defendant to deter him from similar misconduct in the future. These are awarded in cases where there has been great injury by the expression of indignation at the conduct of the defendant whenever he has shown a conscious disregard for the plaintiff’s right.
(v) General and Special Damages:
General damages are such as the law will presume to be the natural consequences of the defendant’s acts. Special damages are such as the law will not infer unless proved at the trial.
2. INJUNCTION:
Definition:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary:
A court order commanding or preventing an action.
Cross-reference
Section 52-57 of the specific relief Act.
Kinds of Injunction
- Permanent injunction
- Prohibitory injunction
- Temporary injunction
- Mandatory injunction
3. RESTITUTION OF PROPERTY:
It is granted where the plaintiff has been wrongfully dispossessed of his land or goods.
B. EXTRAJUDICIAL REMEDIES:
Definition:
According to Black’s Law Dictionary:
A remedy not obtained from a court such as repossession is also termed a self-help remedy.
In General:
Extra-Judicial remedies are those which are open to an injured party to adopt when he takes the law into his own hand, as it were, and helps himself in the matter. These are available to the party by his own acts alone, e.g., exclusion of a trespasser, re-entry on land, etc.
Kinds of Extra-Judicial Remedies
1. SELF-DEFENSE:
It is available in Sections 96 to 106 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). It is lawful for a man to defend his person or property and to use reasonable force towards another for that purpose.
2. EXPULSION AND RE-ENTRY
A person who is entitled to the immediate possession of realty, i.e. immovable property, may expel the trespasser therefrom and re-enter it, provided that the force used by him does not transgress the reasonable limits of the occasion.
3. RECAPTION:
A person entitled to the immediate possession of chattel may recover them from any person who has them in his actual possession and detain them, provided that such possession was wrongful in its inception.
4. ABATEMENT OF NUISANCE:
In cases of nuisance, private or public under certain circumstances and subject to limitations, the injured party has the right to remove it.
5. DISTRESS DAMAGE FEASANT:
Distress means the right to detain and Feasant means an object which has done wrong.
Where the beasts of a man are on another man’s grounds without a license and spoil the corn, grass, etc, the owner or the spoil is entitled to take possession of them, ie., the beasts until satisfaction is made to him for the injury he has sustained. The distress must be taken at the time the damage is done and while the beasts are on the land.
CONCLUSION:
Tort law is legal protection against personal injury. The injury may result in one party causing physical harm or financial hardship to another. Judgments reached in a tort case generally seek to restore the injured party through court-awarded compensation for current and future losses.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Enumerate various ways of remedies under the law of Torts.
(2019-A)
Give an account of the judicial or extra-judicial remedies available in torts.
(2019-A 5 years)
What is the principle behind damages in tort law? Write a detailed note on damages and injunctions.
(2016-S)
What kinds of remedies, Judicial and extra-judicial, are available in tort law?
(2016-A)
The main remedies in tort are either judicial or extra-judicial. Write them in detail.
(2015-S)
What remedies are generally available in the law of tort?
(2015-A)
What are the different kinds of remedies available to a plaintiff in a tort?
(2014-S)
Discuss the remedies in Torts.
(2014-A)
What are the judicial remedies available for tort? Discuss in detail.
(2013-S)
What do you understand by damages? What are the different kinds of damages?
(2018-A, 2012-S, 2010-A)
