§ SECTION 10 · BSA 2023 · CHAPTER II — RELEVANCY OF FACTS

Facts tending to enable Court to determine amount are relevant in suits for damages

The quantum door: once damages are claimed, every fact that helps the Court decide how much — in either direction — is relevant.

How to read Section 10

A one-sentence section with one job.

What it is about

In suits claiming damages, facts that help the Court fix the amount are relevant.

Both directions

Facts that aggravate the figure and facts that mitigate it stand on the same footing.

Amount only

It opens no door on liability — whether damages are payable at all is decided by the substantive law and the other relevancy routes.

The bare Act

The section in its own words — colour-keyed by what each phrase does.

Section 10 · verbatim

In suits in which damages are claimed, any fact which will enable the Court to determine the amount of damages which ought to be awarded, is relevant.

In short: once a suit claims damages, the evidence-gate opens wide on a single question — how much. Bills, losses, gravity, apologies, the claimant’s own fault: whatever genuinely helps the Court measure the award, enters.

→ The section has no illustrations — its whole content is that one sentence.

Glossary

damages

Money compensation claimed for a legal wrong — in contract or tort.

quantum

The lawyer’s word for the amount — this section’s only concern.

aggravation

Facts pressing the figure upward — gravity, spread, persistence of the harm.

mitigation

Facts pulling it downward — apology, amends, the claimant’s own contribution.

ought to be awarded

The Court’s measure is what should justly be given — not what is demanded.

The picture

One dial, two hands.

The section, part by part

Tap a part — the picture-story tells it first; the word-by-word text and example follow.

The ruleIn practice

the ruleOne question: how much?

In one lineIn a damages suit, any fact that helps the Court fix the amount — up or down — is relevant.

In suits in which damages are claimed,the arenaonly damages suits — where money compensation is the claim.

any fact which will enable the Court to determine the amount of damages which ought to be awarded,the yardstick factsanything that helps the Court fix the figure — pushing it up or pulling it down.

is relevant.the resultit enters — for the amount, not for liability.

ExampleA motor-accident claim: the hospital bills, the months off work, the permanent limp — all enter to raise the figure; the victim’s own partial fault enters to lower it. Every one of them walks in through this section.

✗ Not thisThis door opens only in damages suits, and only for facts bearing on the amount. Facts going to liability — who wronged whom — must walk through the other sections of the catalogue.

in practiceBoth pans of the scale

In one lineThe section is two-directional: facts that aggravate the figure and facts that mitigate it are equally relevant.

facts pushing the figure upaggravationthe gravity of the injury, the width of the harm, the defendant’s persistence.

facts pulling the figure downmitigationan apology or correction, the claimant’s own contribution, prompt amends.

ExampleIn a defamation suit: the article’s wide circulation presses the amount up; the newspaper’s prompt published apology pulls it down. Both facts enter — each only on the question of how much.

Connected provisions

§ 9

The residuary doors

§ 9 rescues homeless facts generally; § 10 is a dedicated door for one question — the amount.

§ 3

The gate

Like every route in the catalogue, this one feeds the § 3 gate.

substantive law

When damages lie

Contract and tort law decide whether damages are payable; this section only supplies evidence on how much.

lineage

IEA 1872, § 12

This provision carries forward section 12 of the repealed Evidence Act.