Increasing the Price of Pain: Damages, The Law Commission and Heil v Rankin
(2001) 64 Modern Law Review 100 - 111
12 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2018
Date Written: February 1, 2001
Abstract
How do courts determine damages for pain and suffering in cases involving personal injury? Compensation for this non-pecuniary loss was increased considerably following the key case of Heil v Rankin. This article emphasises the disproprtionate importance of this head of damages to the tort system. It is a major cause of the excessive cost, inefficiency and injustice in the tort system. Adopting a distributive justice framework, the article questions whether it is fair to increase compensation for pain and suffering when so many injury victims obtain no damages at all.
Keywords: tort, damages, personal injury, compensation, pain and suffering, distributive justice, law reform
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