Day 312 - 11 Dec 96 - Page 07
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But then, if that were so, it is no different
2 to any other tort where you can imagine damages being
3 caused to a particular Plaintiff by two Defendants as
4 acting jointly, but then one or the other has done some
5 additional acts which the other defendant is not also
6 responsible for.
7
8 MR. RAMPTON: That would be right.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us suppose for a moment that the damages
11 for what they have done jointly was £5,000, the damages for
12 what one of them has done in addition would be worth an
13 extra thousand pounds. Do you give damages for £6,000
14 against that person and £5,000 against the other, five of
15 the six being joint?
16
17 MR. RAMPTON: You could put it that way, or you could say
18 damages of £6,000 but shall be executed as to defendant A
19 only in relation to £5,000.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I remember you saying that before. The
22 technical difficulty with that, seems to me, that the
23 person who was not responsible for the extra thousand
24 pounds does actually have a judgment for that thousand
25 pounds against him.
26
27 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The fact that it is not going to be executed,
30 it is a wrong judgment in the first place, is it not?
31
32 MR. RAMPTON: That is perfectly fair. So far as that is
33 concerned, I do not really have a clear view. If
34 your Lordship said, well, Mr. Morris is liable for X and
35 Ms. Steel, for example, X minus so and so, that would deal
36 with the problem.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you have Defendants A and B and both A and
39 B are responsible for damage X, and A is responsible for
40 damage Y, and B is responsible for damage Z, you add X and
41 Y together so far as A is concerned, and X and Z together
42 so far as B is concerned and give judgment in those sums
43 against A on the one hand and B on the other.
44
45 MR. RAMPTON: That is fine so long as you make-----
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: And you explain ----
48
49 MR. RAMPTON: What you are doing.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- what you have done.
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: You make it clear in doing that the X factor is
54 the joint liability.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
57
58 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, my Lord, I am quite happy with that.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We will see.
