NCJ Number
182204
Journal
Judicature Volume: 83 Issue: 4 Dated: January -February 2000 Pages: 180-189
Date Published
January 2000
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article explores the role of apology in tort compensation.
Abstract
The essay recommends that the law encourage apology for tortious conduct by granting it broader protection from admissibility in liability determinations, and acknowledges its therapeutic potential by providing for its admissibility during damage determinations to mitigate damages for intangible loss. Proponents of apology argue that it is therapeutic because it helps attribute responsibility for harm and helps reduce the victim’s anger or the desire to see the wrongdoer punished. Apologies often help resolve disputes; parties who receive apologies are often more willing to settle than those who do not. Minimally, to be meaningful, an apology must express regret for the occurrence of a harmful event and acknowledge responsibility for it. Tort law claims compensation-- restoration of the injured--as one of its principal goals; achieving this goal requires that tort law foster the therapeutic process. Apology is a sensible, inexpensive response to wrongdoing for tort law to accomplish this. Notes