Remedies

• Legal remedies


  Remedies that a claimant will be entitled to as a matter of law
• Damages


  Monetary compensation - used for actual/anticipatory breach of term, misrepresentation/economic duress
• Aim of damages


  To place the claimant in the position that they would have been in had the contract been performed
• Liquidated damages


  Damages specified by the parties during contract formation
• Unliquidated damages


  Damages where the amount has to be determined by the court
• 'But for' test


  'But for the defendant's breach of contract, would C have suffered the loss?'
• Remoteness of damage


  1. Naturally occurring from the breach of contract? 2. In contemplation of both parties at the point of contract formation
• Hadley v Baxendale (1854)
• Victoria Laundry v Newman Industries (1949): part 2 must be known by D at formation
• Expectation loss


  Aims to put the claimant in the position that they would have been in had the contract been performed
• Ways to calculate expectation loss

  • The difference in value between the goods or services required in the contract and those actually provided
  • The difference in value between the contract price and price in the market
  • Loss of profit
  • Loss of a chance - speculative losses
• The courts are sometimes reluctant to award losses of a speculative nature. Chaplin v Hicks (1911)
• Reliance loss


  Where it is difficult to claim expectation loss - damages for reliance losses. Aim to put the claimant back in the position as if the contract had never been formed
• Anglia TV v Reed (1972)
• Mitigation of loss


  Claimant's duty to take reasonable steps to minimise the amount of losses suffered
• Thai Airways v K Holdings (2015)
• Repudiation (Termination of contract)


  Contract immediately at an end where there has been: Breach of a condition, Frustration, Misrepresentation, Economic duress
• Not available as a remedy against the Crown
• Not subject to principles of causation & remoteness
• Equitable remedies


  Given instead of damages where damages are not going to ensure fairness - discretionary
• Specific performance


  An order of the court to a contractual party to perform their contractual obligations
• Specific performance


  • May not always be a suitable remedy and will not be available when: 1. A contract involves a personal service, 2. Where the court cannot supervise the performance, 3. It is impossible to perform the obligations
• Rescission


  An order of rescission means return of the parties to the position that they were in before the contract was made. Effect intended effect is that it is as if the contract never existed.
• Precontractual condition


  A claimant does may seek rescission without order of a court
• Rescission


  • May not be possible where: 1. The claimant has affirmed the contract, 2. There was lapse of time, 3. Third party rights would be infringed, 4. Return to the pre-contractual position is not possible
• In these circumstances damages will be awarded