Measure of damages

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: Damages for a constructive total loss of a vehicle are measured by the pre-accident market value minus salvage value, plus the reasonable cost of hiring a substitute.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: Damages for a vehicle destroyed as a constructive total loss equal its pre-accident market value less scrap value, plus the cost of hiring a temporary substitute for a reasonable period.

Ghana · 2024

Principle established: Review jurisdiction is sparingly exercised and will be dismissed if the applicant fails to demonstrate an exceptional circumstance or a fundamental error in the original judgment.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1961

Principle established: An appellate court will not interfere with a trial court's assessment of damages unless the figure is so generous as to show it was assessed on a wrong principle.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: Damages for defamation are categorized into contemptuous, nominal, substantial, and exemplary awards depending on plaintiff injury, conduct, and the necessity of vindication.

Kenya · 2018

Principle established: In a road traffic accident claim, the plaintiff must prove negligence on the part of the defendant's driver to recover damages for injuries sustained.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1956

Principle established: Damages for lost earnings are based on what the claimant would actually have received, after tax.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1972

Principle established: Confirmed Rookes v Barnard's categories. Publishing a libel to make a profit can justify exemplary damages.

Malawi · 2026

Principle established: A claim for discrimination must be properly pleaded and established by evidence; where it is not, an award of damages based on discrimination cannot be sustained on appeal.

Malawi · 2026

Principle established: A claim for discrimination must be properly pleaded and established by evidence; where it is not, an award of damages based on discrimination cannot be sustained on appeal.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 2014

Principle established: Planning permission is not a defence in itself. Coming to the nuisance is not a defence. Courts have a wide discretion to award damages instead of an injunction.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: Where an execution is conducted without lawful authority so as to constitute a trespass or conversion, damages are assessed against the wrongdoer without regard to any official capacity.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1952

Principle established: Where execution of process is wholly unauthorised and wrongful, it constitutes trespass or conversion, and damages are assessed as though the wrongdoer acted without official character.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1960

Principle established: Damages for breach of contract are assessed by subtracting the labour costs saved from the unpaid contract price, and related tort claims may be joined to avoid multiplicity of actions.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1964

Principle established: Damages for loss of amenity are awarded for the objective loss, even if the claimant cannot appreciate it.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2011

Principle established: A plaintiff's impecuniosity or poverty cannot be considered as part of the damages resulting from a defendant's tortious act.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2011

Principle established: A plaintiff's impecuniosity or poverty cannot be considered as part of the damages resulting from a defendant's tortious act.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: Ownership of a motor car causing damage is prima facie evidence that it was being driven by the owner, his servant, or his agent at the material time.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: In a negligence action, proof of vehicle ownership provides prima facie evidence that the vehicle was driven by the owner or the owner's servant or agent.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: The measure of damages in an action for conversion is the full value of the chattel at the date of the conversion.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1952

Principle established: A sub-tenant in occupation must be served with judgment obtained against the tenant before a writ of possession can issue, and special damages for trespass must be strictly proved rather than estimated.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1974

Principle established: An appellate court will only disturb a trial judge's assessment of damages if the judge acted on a wrong legal principle or the award was an entirely erroneous estimate.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1974

Principle established: An appellate court may only overturn a trial judge's damages assessment if based on an error of law or if the award is so extremely high or low as to be entirely erroneous.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1974

Principle established: An appellate court will not disturb a trial judge's assessment of damages unless convinced the judge acted on a wrong legal principle or the quantum represents an entirely erroneous estimate.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: A corporate principal is liable for malicious prosecution when its agent initiates criminal proceedings without reasonable and probable cause and with improper motives.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: Damages for detinue of a chattel used in a profitable business include both the cost of hiring a replacement and compensation for any consequent loss of business.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1967

Principle established: The measure of damages for wrongful detention of a profit-earning chattel covers the hire cost of a substitute machine and any proven loss of profits resulting from its diminished capacity.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2011

Principle established: A plaintiff's impecuniosity cannot be considered as part of the damages resulting from a defendant's tort.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1880

Principle established: Damages aim to put the claimant, so far as money can, in the position he would have been in if the tort had not been committed (restitutio in integrum).

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: A gratuitous agent who does not profess special skill is only bound to exercise the ordinary care of a reasonably prudent person.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: Car owners remain jointly and severally liable for negligence if ownership has not been formally transferred at the time of an accident.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: Car owners remain jointly and severally liable for negligence if ownership has not been formally transferred at the time of an accident.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 2019

Principle established: Whether an agent contracts personally or solely for a principal is a question of fact; appellate courts are reluctant to interfere with findings of fact regarding oral contracts.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court considered an application for summary judgment in a case involving damages for breach of duty and recovery of medical expenses and end-of-service benefits.

Kenya · 2025

Principle established: In claims arising from road traffic accidents, the owner of a vehicle may be held liable for damages caused by the negligence of their driver or agent.

Kenya · 2023

Principle established: A party is liable for damages for breach of contract where they fail to perform their obligations, such as harvesting crops as agreed, resulting in loss to the other party.

Ghana · 2026

Principle established: To succeed in a defamation claim, the plaintiff must meet essential thresholds to balance the protection of reputation against the right to free expression.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: To obtain equitable relief regarding an illegal agreement, a party must establish that their consent was procured by duress or undue influence, beyond merely demonstrating the illegality itself.

South Africa · 2022

Principle established: Where liability is conceded in a motor vehicle accident claim, the court must determine the appropriate quantum of damages for medical expenses, loss of earnings, and general damages.

Lanbuk on the Law of Torts · 1964

Principle established: Exemplary damages can be given only in (1) oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional action by government servants; (2) conduct calculated to make a profit beyond the compensation payable; (3) where statute allows.