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Apportionment Of Damages For Contributory Negligence: A Fixed Or Discretionary Approach, James Goudkamp

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

In most of the common-law world, legislation provides for damages to be apportioned where the claimant is guilty of contributory negligence. This legislation gives judges considerable latitude to determine the extent to which damages should be diminished for contributory negligence. It imposes what will be called a system of 'discretionary appor- tionment'. This paper draws attention to the fact that, although most common-law juris- dictions are, by virtue of their apportionment legislation, in the thrall of the paradigm of discretionary apportionment, there are many, varied departures from this paradigm. This paper classifies these departures (which will be called 'fixed apportionment …