Part II The Institutional Framework, 4 Domestic Remedies

Today, most states accept that individuals are entitled to a remedy if they have suffered some injury, whether physical, pecuniary, or moral, proximately caused by a wrongful act attributable to the state. The standard or duty of care may range from strict liability to accountability for intentional or specifically motivated behaviour. Most written constitutions explicitly secure remedial rights; where they do not, judicial bodies often infer a remedy. In the English case of Ashby v. White,1 Chief Justice Holt proclaimed: ‘If the plaintiff has a right, he must of...