JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcus Pallot and Eleanor Davies, Carey Olsen
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant The three main remedies available at the full trial stage are damages, final injunctions and declarations. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages Damages are compensatory in nature rather than punitive, and are considered by reference to the loss shown to be suffered. As a matter of law, aggravated or exemplary damages are available in very limited cases but they are very rarely awarded. There are no general rules limiting the maximum amount of dam- ages payable. 9.3 Pre-Judgment and Post-Judgment Interest Pre-judgment Interest Pre-judgment interest derives from the terms of the contract and/or statute and should be pleaded. It can be awarded from the date that the cause of action arises up to the date of the judgment. The court may award statutory interest on a simple basis where it thinks fit, and at a rate that it thinks fit. The court may not award statutory interest where interest already runs on the debt. There are no statutory limits on the award of pre-judg- ment interest per se; however, the court has a custom- ary law power to regulate interest which it considers excessive. Whether the amount of interest set out in the contract is payable in full will depend upon the enforceability of the relevant terms of the contract (eg, punitive interest rates may not be enforceable). In certain matters, such as breach of trust claims and accessory liability in respect of breach of trust, the court exceptionally may award compound interest. Post-judgment Interest Post-judgment interest is payable at the applicable court rate provided for by statute. Currently this is 8% above the Bank of England (BOE) base rate. Where the judgment was in respect of a debt that was already accruing (eg, an action for repayment of a loan that already provides for the payment of interest), the
The parties may enter into a settlement agreement between themselves, but they will have to obtain an order formally disposing of any proceedings that are on foot. If the settlement terms are to be incorporated into an act of court then the parties will file a consent order including them, and the court will issue an act of court. Typically, this can be done simply by filing a consent order dismissing the action pursuant to the settlement agreement, which will contain the fuller terms. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality The existence of the action will be public unless the court has ordered that either all or any part of it shall be private. The terms of the settlement can be kept private using a confidential settlement agreement. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements The settlement agreement is a contract between the parties. If one party breaches its terms then the other party will have an action for breach of contract. This will usually be pursued by way of a separate action. However, where the terms of the settlement agree- ment have been incorporated into the act of court, it may be possible for the aggrieved party to apply to court within the same proceedings for enforcement. This will depend on the terms of the order and the set- tlement agreement that the aggrieved party is seeking to enforce. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements A settlement agreement may be set aside under the same circumstances as a contract. These include: • that the contract has not been properly formed; and/or • that there has been a vice de consentment under - mining a party’s consent to the contract (eg, error, fraud, misrepresentation or undue influence).
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