COMPENSATION FOR NON-PECUNIARY LOSS: IS THERE A CASE FOR LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTION?

Abstract

In 1978 the Supreme Court of Canada established a $100,000 limit on damages for non pecuniary loss in personal injury cases. The Law Reform Commission of British Columbia has recently recommended that this limit should be abolished by legislation. In this article it is suggested that the 1978 decisions of the Supreme Court ofCanada are soundly based and that some such limit is essential to ensure consistency, fairness, and the application of rational principles in assessing damagesfor personal injury.