House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

Session 2012 - 13
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

305

SUPPLEMENT TO THE VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS

Monday 18 March 2013

Report Stage Proceedings

Crime and Courts Bill [Lords], As Amended

[SECOND DAY]

New Clauses and New Schedules standing in the name of the Prime Minister

and relating to press conduct

Awards of exemplary damages

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

The Deputy Prime Minister

Edward Miliband

Agreed to on division  NC21A


To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where—

(a)
a relevant claim is made against a person (“the defendant”),

(b)
the defendant was a relevant publisher at the material time,

(c)
the claim is related to the publication of news-related material, and

(d)
the defendant is found liable in respect of the claim.

(2)
Exemplary damages may not be awarded against the defendant in respect of the

claim if the defendant was a member of an approved regulator at the material

time.

(3)
But the court may disregard subsection (2) if—

(a)
the approved regulator imposed a penalty on the defendant in respect of

the defendant’s conduct or decided not to do so,

(b)
the court considers, in light of the information available to the approved

regulator when imposing the penalty or deciding not to impose one, that

the regulator was manifestly irrational in imposing the penalty or

deciding not to impose one, and

(c)
the court is satisfied that, but for subsection (2), it would have made an

award of exemplary damages under this section against the defendant.

(4)
Where the court is not prevented from making an award of exemplary damages

by subsection (2) (whether because that subsection does not apply or the court is

permitted to disregard that subsection as a result of subsection (3)), the court—

(a)
may make an award of exemplary damages if it considers it appropriate

to do so in all the circumstances of the case, but

(b)
may do so only under this section.

(5)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section only if they are claimed.

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
306

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

(6)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section only if the court is

satisfied that—

(a)
the defendant’s conduct has shown a deliberate or reckless disregard of

an outrageous nature for the claimant’s rights,

(b)
the conduct is such that the court should punish the defendant for it, and

(c)
other remedies would not be adequate to punish that conduct.

(7)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section whether or not another

remedy is granted.

(8)
The decision on the question of—

(a)
whether exemplary damages are to be awarded under this section, or

(b)
the amount of such damages,


must not be left to a jury.’.

Awards of exemplary damages

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Not selected  NC21

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where—

(a)
a relevant claim is made against a person (“the defendant”),

(b)
the defendant was a relevant publisher at the material time,

(c)
the claim is related to the publication of news-related material, and

(d)
the defendant is found liable in respect of the claim.

(2)
Exemplary damages may not be awarded against the defendant in respect of the

claim if the defendant was a member of an approved regulator at the material

time.

(3)
Where the court is not prevented from making an award of exemplary damages

by subsection (2), the court—

(a)
may make an award of exemplary damages if it considers it appropriate

to do so in all the circumstances of the case, but

(b)
may do so only under this section.

(4)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section only if they are claimed.

(5)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section only if the court is

satisfied that—

(a)
the defendant’s conduct has shown a deliberate or reckless disregard of

an outrageous nature for the claimant’s rights,

(b)
the conduct is such that the court should punish the defendant for it, and

(c)
other remedies would not be adequate to punish that conduct.

(6)
Exemplary damages may be awarded under this section whether or not another

remedy is granted.

(7)
The decision on the question of—

(a)
whether exemplary damages are to be awarded under this section, or

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
307

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

(b)
the amount of such damages,


must not be left to a jury.’.

Relevant considerations

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Agreed to  NC22

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where the court is deciding whether the circumstances of the

case make it appropriate for exemplary damages to be awarded under section

[Awards of exemplary damages].

(2)
The court must have regard to the principle that exemplary damages must not

usually be awarded if, at any time before the decision comes to be made, the

defendant has been convicted of an offence involving the conduct complained of.

(3)
The court must take account of the following—

(a)
whether membership of an approved regulator was available to the

defendant at the material time;

(b)
if such membership was available, the reasons for the defendant not

being a member;

(c)
so far as relevant in the case of the conduct complained of, whether

internal compliance procedures of a satisfactory nature were in place and,

if so, the extent to which they were adhered to in that case.

(4)
The reference in subsection (3)(c) to “internal compliance procedures” being in

place is a reference to any procedures put in place by the defendant for the

purpose of ensuring that—

(a)
material is not obtained by or on behalf of the defendant in an

inappropriate way, and

(b)
material is not published by the defendant in inappropriate

circumstances.

(5)
The court may regard deterring the defendant and others from similar conduct as

an object of punishment.

(6)
This section is not to be read as limiting the power of the court to take account of

any other matters it considers relevant to its decision.’.

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
308

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

Amount of exemplary damages

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Agreed to  NC23

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where the court decides to award exemplary damages under

section [Awards of exemplary damages].

(2)
The court must have regard to these principles in determining the amount of

exemplary damages—

(a)
the amount must not be more than the minimum needed to punish the

defendant for the conduct complained of;

(b)
the amount must be proportionate to the seriousness of the conduct.

(3)
The court must take account of these matters in determining the amount of

exemplary damages—

(a)
the nature and extent of any loss or harm caused, or intended to be caused,

by the defendant’s conduct;

(b)
the nature and extent of any benefit the defendant derived or intended to

derive from such conduct.

(4)
The court may regard deterring the defendant and others from similar conduct as

an object of punishment.

(5)
This section is not to be read as limiting the power of the court to take account of

any other matters it considers relevant to its decision.’.

Multiple claimants

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Agreed to  NC24

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where a relevant publisher—

(a)
is a defendant to a relevant claim, and

(b)
is found liable to two or more persons in respect of the claim (“the

persons affected”).

(2)
In deciding whether to award exemplary damages under section [Awards of

exemplary damages] or the amount of such damages to award (whether to one or

more of the persons affected), the court must take account of any settlement or

compromise by any persons of a claim in respect of the conduct.

(3)
But the court may take account of any such settlement or compromise only if the

defendant agrees.

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
309

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

(4)
If the court awards exemplary damages under section [Awards of exemplary

damages] to two or more of the persons affected, the total amount awarded must

be such that it does not punish the defendant excessively.

(5)
If the court awards exemplary damages under section [Awards of exemplary

damages] to one or more of the persons affected, no later claim may be made for

exemplary damages as regards the conduct.’.

Multiple defendants

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Agreed to  NC25

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
Any liability of two or more persons for exemplary damages awarded under

section [Awards of exemplary damages] is several (and not joint or joint and

several).

(2)
Subsection (1) has effect subject to the law relating to the liability of a partner for

the conduct of another partner.

(3)
Where the liability of two or more persons for exemplary damages is several, no

contribution in respect of the damages may be recovered by any of them under

section 1 of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978.’.

Awards of aggravated damages

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Agreed to  NC26

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where—

(a)
a relevant claim is made against a person (“the defendant”),

(b)
the defendant was a relevant publisher at the material time,

(c)
the claim is related to the publication of news-related material, and

(d)
the defendant is found liable in respect of the claim.

(2)
Aggravated damages may be awarded against the defendant only to compensate

for mental distress and not for purposes of punishment.

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
310

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

(3)
In this section, “aggravated damages” means damages that were commonly called

aggravated before the passing of this Act and which—

(a)
are awarded against a person in respect of the person’s motive or

exceptional conduct, but

(b)
are not exemplary damages or restitutionary damages.

(4)
Nothing in this section is to be read as implying that, in cases where this section

does not apply, aggravated damages may be awarded for purposes of

punishment.’.

Awards of costs

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

The Deputy Prime Minister

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  NC27A


To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where—

(a)
a relevant claim is made against a person (“the defendant”),

(b)
the defendant was a relevant publisher at the material time, and

(c)
the claim is related to the publication of news-related material.

(2)
If the defendant was a member of an approved regulator at the time when the

claim was commenced (or was unable to be a member at that time for reasons

beyond the defendant’s control or it would have been unreasonable in the

circumstances for the defendant to have been a member at that time), the court

must not award costs against the defendant unless satisfied that—

(a)
the issues raised by the claim could have been resolved by using an

arbitration scheme of the approved regulator, or

(b)
it is just and equitable in all the circumstances of the case to award costs

against the defendant.

(3)
If the defendant was not a member of an approved regulator at the time when the

claim was commenced (but would have been able to be a member at that time and

it would have been reasonable in the circumstances for the defendant to have been

a member at that time), the court must award costs against the defendant unless

satisfied that—

(a)
the issues raised by the claim could not have been resolved by using an

arbitration scheme of the approved regulator (had the defendant been a

member), or

(b)
it is just and equitable in all the circumstances of the case to make a

different award of costs or make no award of costs.

(4)
For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), a claim could have been resolved by

using an arbitration scheme of an approved regulator if, at the time when the

claim was commenced, the approved regulator had arrangements in place for an

arbitration scheme under which the claim could have been referred for

determination by an arbitrator appointed under the scheme.

(5)
The Secretary of State must take steps to put in place arrangements for protecting

the position in costs of parties to relevant claims who have entered into

agreements under section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.

(6)
This section is not to be read as limiting any power to make rules of court.

Report Stage Proceedings: 18 March 2013
311

Crime and Courts Bill–[Lords], continued

(7)
This section does not apply until such time as a body is first recognised as an

approved regulator.’.

Awards of costs

The Prime Minister

Secretary Theresa May

Secretary William Hague

Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer

Secretary Chris Grayling

Secretary Maria Miller

Not selected  NC27

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies where—

(a)
a relevant claim is made against a person (“the defendant”),

(b)
the defendant was a relevant publisher at the material time, and

(c)
the claim is related to the publication of news-related material.

(2)
The court may take account of these matters in deciding any question relating to

an award of costs in the proceedings—

(a)
if membership of an approved regulator was available to the defendant at

the time when the claim was commenced, whether the defendant was a

member at that time;

(b)
if the defendant was a member at that time, whether a party to the

proceedings refused to make use of an arbitration scheme of the approved

regulator;

(c)
if the defendant was not a member at that time, the reasons for the

defendant not being a member.

(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), a party refuses to make use of an arbitration

scheme of an approved regulator if—

(a)
at the time when the claim was commenced, the approved regulator had

arrangements in place for an arbitration scheme under which the claim

could have been referred for determination by an arbitrator appointed

under the scheme, but

(b)
the party refused to agree to the claim being so referred.

(4)
If the court takes account of the matter mentioned in subsection (2)(b), the court

must give the party concerned an opportunity to be heard about the reasons for

the refusal.

(5)
This section is not to be read as limiting any power to make rules of court.’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 19 March 2013