INTRODUCTION
In a case of breach of contract, courts commonly award damages to the claimant as compensation for the actual loss caused by the defendant. Yet it can be difficult for the individual claimant to quantify and prove the exact compensatory amount. Occasionally, private parties therefore agree upfront on a contractual clause stipulating liquidated damages as a lump sum recoverable in the event of breach. However, where parties are unable to agree on liquidated damages contractually because of market failure or unequal bargaining power but are nonetheless in need of simplification for quantifying and proving damages, we have to look towards the lawmaker. For the first time in English law, this article will investigate the instances of, and reasons for, the lawmaker compelling the defendant to pay the claimant legislatively predetermined damages in the form of a statutory amount. The article will refer to these damages as ‘legislatively liquidated damages’ and will use the shorthand ‘legiliquids’ …
€ (Westlaw)
Johannes Ungerer, ‘Legislatively liquidated damages (legiliquids)’ (2025) 141 Law Quarterly Review 587-612 (October 2025)
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