Damages
A monetary remedy awarded by a court to compensate a party for loss or injury suffered as a result of another's breach of duty or contract.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
The Ministry of Justice's Civil Procedure Rules glossary gives the compact official definition: damages are 'A sum of money awarded by the court as compensation to the claimant.' The basic aim is compensatory — putting the claimant back, so far as money can, in the position they would have been in without the wrong — but the glossary also records two categories that go beyond simple compensation.
'Aggravated damages' are 'Additional damages which the court may award as compensation for the defendant's objectionable behaviour', while 'exemplary damages' are damages 'which go beyond compensating for actual loss and are awarded to show the court's disapproval of the defendant's behaviour.' Both remain the exception rather than the rule: the ordinary starting point is that damages compensate loss, not that they punish.
Related terms
Official sources
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