New Zealand Law Commision Report on Review of Joint and Several Liability

The New Zealand Law Commission has released a report on Liability of Multiple Defendants.

The document recommends that joint and several liability remain the normal rule to govern the liability of multiple defendants for the same damage, but with several modifications to achieve better fairness in more extreme or unusual circumstances or for some classes of defendants.

 Among other things, the modifications propose that:

• courts should have power to grant relief to a truly minor defendant, who bears only a small responsibility or share of fault for the plaintiff’s loss, but who would otherwise be required to pay all or nearly all of the damages because they are the only remaining solvent defendant. 
• a court may order supplementary contribution, so that the cost of paying an uncollected share caused by an absent defendant is distributed among all remaining solvent defendants, according to their shares of responsibility.