Question

Discuss the limitation on awards for non-economic damages, are they fair or unfair?

Answer 1

Let's first understand what non-economic damages are :

Below are some examples :

1)The injury itself
2 ) Disability or disfigurement
3 )Pain and suffering
4)Loss of companionship or consortium
5)Losses related to one’s reputation
6)Loss of "enjoyment of life"
See , Non-economic damages are highly subjective in nature and might vary from person to person.

To be read : Tort law ensures monetary compensation for the above mentioned losses.

Also , these include pain and suffering, loss of society, emotional distress, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of child-bearing capacity, loss of parental guidance, and loss of enjoyment of life and some other categories of losses too.

Limitations of Non-Economic Damages :
~Regulation of non-economic damages varies with jurisdiction.

But, some states only issue non-economic damages if the complainant can first prove economic damages. Often, non-economic damages are counted in proportion to the economic damages, and they are frequently subject to a statutory cap.

Federal Law says that non-economic damages must be reasonable. Usually, these are limited to no more than ten times the amount of economic damages awarded. These cannot be issued for losses that are purely imaginary or invented by the complainant itself and have a greater chance of being issued if they can be traced to some sort of physical manifestation. Eg. painand suffering may manifest in physical symptoms such as ulcers or PTSD.