29 Jan 2016

…The conclusion from all of these sources is that compensation for non-pecuniary damage does not take into consideration comparative economic contexts, at least in terms of relative average income.

In fairness, however, the task of calculating non-pecuniary damage is extremely difficult. I should note that Prof. Shelton opposed the very idea of “benchmarking” awards to examples from international tribunals, because every case needs to be assessed on its own terms, and the facts of every case are different. That makes assessing non-pecuniary damage into something of a dark art; it’s impossible to come up with any kind of precise formula. But, in my view, that’s another reason to object to Enodo’s conclusion that the Remedy Framework awards were equitable under international law…