Other Remedie Flashcards
what additional remedies can an innocent party be entitled to?
Injunction - an order given by the court to restrain the other party from acting in breach of contract or requiring them to cease their tortious conduct.
More rarely, the court will issue an injunction requiring the other party to perform their obligations under the contract. Such an injunction is known as a ‘mandatory’ or ‘positive’ injunction: it requires the other party to do something as opposed to stop it.
If the term of the contract that has been breach is a key provision of the contract, what may the innocent parity have the right to?
In addition to their claim for damages, to bring the contract to an end.
If the innocent party has been induced to enter into the contract in reliance on a statement made by the other party that turns out to be untrue, what right may the innocent party have?
- to rescind the contract from the very beginning.
CLASS ACTIONS
Some tortious acts can affect many ppl. Instead of individuals suing the alleged tortfeasor on their own, under English law, what can they do?
English law provides a means by which they can group together to sue as one entity and share the litigation costs.
In England such actions are taken by means of a group litigation order (GLO) issued under the Civil Procedure Rules in cases which ‘give rise to common or related issued of fact or law.
A claimant wishing to join group litigation must do what?
Apply to be entered on the group register that the court establishes for each case.
Judgement on one or more of the GLO issues will bind all of the claimants on the group register.
A list of GLOs is published on the court website.
In the USA, the development of the ‘class action’ has been more vigorous.
What are the procedures?
- the action is regulated by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
- the trial judge determines , by reference to a number of established criteria, whether a proposed class can be ‘certified’.
What des the criteria include?
- Ascertainable class - class members must be ascertainable under objective criteria;
- Numerosity - the class must be so ‘numerous that joinder of all parties is impracticable’;
- Commonality - there must be ‘questions of law or fact common to the class’;
- Predominance - the common issues of fact and law must predominate over individual ones;
- Damages
The Federal Rule of Civil Procedure - class action
Once a class has been certified, what next?
Notice given to all class members.
A class member may then decide to opt out of the class action if they believe that their case is better than the class case.
If they do not opt out they will then be bound by the outcome of the class action and will not be able to bring their own individual case.
Class actions are very frequent in the US courts where they have been used to great effect in the fields of securities, anti-trust and product liability as well as in maritime cases.
