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UK: Exemplary damages limited

01 January 1997

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Lord Wolf, Master of the Rolls, has set new guidelines limiting the amount of exemplary damages awarded to victims of police violence. Awards against the police have reached almost £20 million over the last ten years. This will be cut by the Appeal Court's decision that exemplary damages will have a £50,000 ceiling. The new guidelines were set in a test case brought by the Metropolitan police who complained that juries were making excessive awards against them.

The judgement meant that Kenneth Hsu, who was awarded a record £200,000 in exemplary damages after a jury decided that he had been wrongfully arrested, imprisoned, racially abused and assaulted by the Metropolitan police last year, had his award reduced by £185,000 to £15,000. Mr Hsu's compensation of £20,000 is unaffected. Mr Hsu said that he was disappointed at the decision. In the five years since the incident no police officer has been held accountable, or even disciplined; Mr Hsu has yet to receive an apology for his treatment.

South London Press 21.2.97.

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