The Assessment of Compensatory Damages for Medical Error by the Greek Courts: An Economic Analysis

Abstract

In this paper, after summarizing and reviewing the methods of computing damages for wrongful death or injury in the law and economics literature, we present the way in which damages should be compensated for according to the mainstream Greek tort law theory. We then examine the actual calculation of damages by Greek courts during the period from 2003 to 2008 in order to discover the rationale behind court assessments of damages, especially in the difficult cases of lost future opportunities due to injuries and the valuation of life in the cases of wrongful death. Finally we offer a number of proposals that the Greek judges can use to estimate damages more accurately within the existing legal framework.