Mitigation (law)

Mitigation (law)

Mitigation in law is the principle that a party who has suffered loss (from a tort or breach of contract) has to take reasonable action to minimize the amount of the loss suffered. As stated by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal in Redpath Industries Ltd. v. Cisco (The) [1], "It is well established that a party who suffers damages as a result of a breach of contract has a duty to mitigate those damages, that is to say that the wrongdoer cannot be called upon to pay for avoidable losses which would result in an increase in the quantum of damages payable to the injured party." The onus on showing a failure to mitigate damages is on the defendant.

For example, consider a tenant who signs an agreement to rent a house for a year, but moves out after only one month. The landlord may be able to sue the tenant for breach of contract: however the landlord must mitigate damages by making a reasonable attempt to find a replacement tenant for the remainder of the year. The landlord may not simply let the house lie empty for eleven months and then sue the tenant for eleven months' rent.

The issue of what is reasonable is especially contentious in personal injury cases where the plaintiff refuses medical advice. This can be seen in cases such as Janiak v. Ippolito[2].

References

  1. ^ 1993 CanLII 3025 (F.C.A.)
  2. ^ 1985 CanLII 62 (S.C.C.)



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • mitigation of damages — 1: a doctrine in tort and contract law: a person injured by another is required to mitigate his or her losses resulting from the injury whether the patient shares any fault and whether the patient has satisfied the requirements of mitigation of… …   Law dictionary

  • mitigation — I noun abatement, abridgment, adjustment, alleviation, assuagement, attenuation, comforting, decrease, diminishment, diminution, easing, lessening, levamentum, levatio, lightening, mitigatio, moderation, palliation, reduction, relaxation, relief …   Law dictionary

  • mitigation-of-damages doctrine — n. The doctrine that requires a plaintiff to use reasonable efforts to alleviate the injury caused by the defendant. For example, a merchant who fails to receive goods due to the manufacturer s breach is expected to replace those goods with… …   Law dictionary

  • Mitigation — may refer to: mitigation of global warming in climate science environmental mitigation in public administration; also, in particular: Mitigation banking The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 disaster mitigation in emergency management; also, in… …   Wikipedia

  • mitigation — mit|i|ga|tion [ˌmıtıˈgeıʃən] n [U] 1.) in mitigation law if you say something in mitigation, you try to make someone s crime or mistake seem less serious or show that they were not completely responsible ▪ The captain added, in mitigation, that… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • mitigation — noun (U) 1 in mitigation law if you say something in mitigation, you try to make someone s crime or mistake seem less serious or show that they were not completely responsible: The captain added, in mitigation, that the engines may have been… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • Mitigation of global warming — involves taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance sinks aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. [ [http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/glossary/ar4 wg3.pdf IPCC Glossary Working Group III, p. 818] ] This is in distinction to… …   Wikipedia

  • Mitigation — la Mitigation (d après le mot latine mitigare) est utilisée dans le domaine du risque ou des études d impact et surtout dans les pays anglo saxons pour désigner des systèmes moyens et mesures d atténuation d effets, par exemple en matière de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • mitigation — mit|i|ga|tion [ ,mıtı geıʃn ] noun uncount 1. ) FORMAL a reduction in the harmful effects of something: a project involving pollution mitigation 2. ) LEGAL things that are said in a court of law to explain why someone committed a crime so that it …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • mitigation — UK [ˌmɪtɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n] / US noun [uncountable] 1) formal a reduction in the harmful effects of something a project involving pollution mitigation 2) legal things that are said in a court of law to explain why someone committed a crime so that it… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”