Benoiton v Larue (CA 02/ 2014) [2016] SCSC 122 (29 February 2016)

Benoiton v Larue (CA 02/ 2014) [2016] SCSC 122 (29 February 2016)

The trial court was correct in dismissing the project officer's evidence as he was an interested party and his testimony did not assist the appellant. The respondent did not fail to mitigate her loss as the SR18,000.00 offered was from retained funds, not the appellant's own resources. The award of SR50,000.00 for moral damages was not justified in a breach of contract case; instead, interest at the commercial rate is appropriate.

Citation
[2016] SCSC 122
Parties
Appellant: Andrew Benoiton; Respondent: Vanessa Larue
Court
Supreme Court
Jurisdiction
Seychelles
Judgment Date
29 February 2016
Case Number
CA 02/ 2014
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Judgment on Appeal
Outcome
appeal partially allowed
Legal Topics
Breach of Contract, Damages, Mitigation of Loss, Moral Damages
Source Language
English
Contract Law Construction Law Breach of Contract Damages Mitigation of Loss Moral Damages

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 2 Authorities cited 1 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 8
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Andrew Benoiton

Appellant

Vanessa Larue

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Judgment on Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the evidence of the project officer as interested party
  2. 2 Whether the respondent failed to mitigate her loss
  3. 3 Whether the award of moral damages was justified in a breach of contract suit

Ratio Decidendi

The trial court was correct in dismissing the project officer's evidence as he was an interested party and his testimony did not assist the appellant. The respondent did not fail to mitigate her loss as the SR18,000.00 offered was from retained funds, not the appellant's own resources. The award of SR50,000.00 for moral damages was not justified in a breach of contract case; instead, interest at the commercial rate is appropriate.

Court Disposition

appeal partially allowed

Orders

  • Award of SR50,000.00 for moral damages set aside and replaced with 10% commercial interest on the sum awarded
  • Awards of SR49,500.00 for rectification of defective works and SR9,000.00 for reports of QS and Engineer upheld