Email:    Z.Zlatev@lse.ac.uk

Thesis Title: 'Recoverability of non-pecuniary damages deriving from contractual non-performance'

Supervisors: Dr Charlie Webb and Dr Solène Rowan

Research Interests:  law of obligations, contract law, torts, restitution

Thesis Abstract:

The thesis will attempt to justify complete recoverability of all non-pecuniary damages deriving from contractual non-performance. It will be advocating that the only restrictions thereof should be the general limitation principles of remoteness, causation, and mitigation which are currently applied to other types of damages. Such wider recoverability will lead to common approach to all consequences of the breach and thus bringing uniformity and greater consistency in English contract law. This solution will also protect both financial and non-financial aspects of the positive and negative promisee’s performance interest and ensure more reliability and predictability in relation to the liability for non-performance, and thus enhance contracting in general. Unlike other commentators that have proposed similar solutions, the present article will justify the general recoverability of all non-pecuniary damages on the basis of more abstract concept, by reference to their intrinsic nature. On the basis of the definition about the non-pecuniary damages and their relation to the performance interest, a new clearer and more comprehensive classification of the non-pecuniary damages will be proposed, that will also demonstrate the necessity of their full recoverability and will clearly point the relation of the two groups of damages that are to be suggested to the promisee’s performance interest.