The compensatory principle is paramount in assessing damages, says Betul Milliner
When an event occurs after acceptance of a repudiatory breach which diminishes the value of the loss suffered, should the court take this into account in an assessment of damages? This was the question that the House of Lords considered in Golden Strait Corpn v Nippon Yusen Kubishika Kaisha (The Golden Victory) [2007] UKHL 12, [2007] 3 All ER 1, when it was asked to decide whether damages should be quantified at the date of acceptance of a repudiatory breach or at the date on which damages are being assessed. By a majority of three to two, the law lords held that damages should be quantified at the date on which they are assessed and that the court should not ignore events that have occurred after the date of repudiation.
The appellant was the owner of a vessel which was chartered on 10 July 1998 for a time period charterparty of seven years. Under the terms of the charterparty, the earliest date on which it
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