What are damages in a legal context?

Damages in a legal context refer specifically to monetary awards granted to a plaintiff as compensation for losses or injuries they have suffered due to the actions or negligence of another party. These awards can cover a range of issues, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses that the plaintiff has incurred. The primary goal of awarding damages is to restore the injured party, as much as possible, to the position they would have been in had the injury not occurred.

The concept of damages is pivotal in civil law, distinguishing it from penalties or criminal sentences which are applied in criminal cases. Penalties imposed by courts are typically designed as punitive measures to deter (not just compensate) wrongful behavior in criminal cases. Similarly, criminal sentences involve imprisonment or other forms of punishment for unlawful actions, which do not involve compensation to victims. Settlement agreements may involve various terms of resolution in legal disputes, potentially including compensation, but are different from the court-determined monetary awards known as damages. Thus, the definition of damages is specifically aligned with the idea of compensation in civil cases.