ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of damages in remedying public law wrongs, and the reasons why the remedy has traditionally been seen as less suitable for use in public law than in the private law of obligations. Adding damages to the catalogue of public law remedies would add significantly to the range of functions performed by public law remedies. There are four main types of damages: compensatory damages, restorative damages, disgorgement damages and punitive damages. The chapter examines three possible reasons why damages might, by their nature, be thought an unsuitable remedy for public law wrongs: their 'intrusiveness', the fact that they shift financial resources, and the fact that they benefit individuals. The conclusion that government functionaries should not be personally liable is neither controversial or new: witness the fact that statutory provisions protecting government employees from liability for the exercise of governmental functions are by no means rare.
