Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Liquidated
adj. 1. (Of an amount or debt) settled or determined, esp. by agreement. 2. (Of an asset or assets) converted into cash.
Unliquidated
adj. Not previously specified or determined <unliquidated damages>. unliquidated claim See CLAIM (s).
liquidated amount
A figure readily computed, based on an agreement's terms. liquidated claim See CLAIM (3).
liquidated claim
A claim for an amount previously agreed on by the parties or that can be precisely determined by operation law or by the terms of the parties' agreement. - Also termed liquidated demand.
liquidated damages
An amount contractually stipulated as a reasonable estimation of actual damages to be recovered by one party if the other party breaches. ( If the parties to a contract have agreed on liquidated damages, the sum fixed is the measure of damages for a breach, whether it exceeds or falls short of the actual damages. - Also termed stipulated damages; estimated damages. See LIQUIDATED-DAMAGES CLAUSE. Cf. unliquidated damages; PENALTY CLAUSE. "Where the terms of a contract specify a sum payable for non-performance, it is a question of construction whether this sum is to be treated as a penalty or as liquidated damages. The difference in effect is this: The amount recoverable in case of a penalty is not the sum named,but the damage actually incurred. The amount recoverable as liquidated damages is the sum named as such. In construing these terms a judge will not accept the phraseology of the parties; they may call the sum specified 'liquidated damages,' but if the judge finds it to be a penalty, he will treat it as such." William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of Contract 470 (Arthur L. Corbin ed., 3d Am. ed. 1919). "The distinction between a penalty and genuine liquidated damages, as they are called, is not always easy to apply, but the Courts have made the task simpler by laying down certain guiding principles. In the first place, if the sum payable is so large as to be far in excess of the probable damage on breach, it is almost certainly a penalty. Secondly, if the same sum is expressed to be payable on any one of a number of different breaches of varying importance, it is again probably a penalty, because it is extremely unlikely that the same damage would be caused by these varying breaches. Thirdly, where a sum is expressed to be payable on a certain date, and a further sum in the event of default being made, this latter sum is prima facie a penalty, because mere delay in payment is unlikely to cause damage. Finally, it is to be noted that the mere use of the words 'liquidated damages' is not decisive, for it is the task of the Court and not of the parties to decide the true nature of the sum payable." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 316-17 (3d ed. 1981).
liquidated debt
A debt whose amount has been determined by agreement of the parties or by operation of law.
liquidated demand
See liquidated claim under CLAIM (2).
liquidated-damages clause
A contractual provision that determines in advance the measure of damages if a party breaches the agreement. ( Traditionally, courts have upheld such a clause unless the agreed-on sum is deemed a penalty for one of the following reasons: (1) the sum grossly exceeds the probable damages on breach, (2) the same sum is made payable for any variety of different breaches (some major, some minor), or (3) a mere delay in payment has been listed among the events of default. Cf. LIMITATION-OF-REMEDIES CLAUSE; PENALTY CLAUSE.
unliquidated claim
A claim in which the liability of the party or the aniuunt of the claim is in dispute 4. An interest or remedy recognized at taw: the means by which a person can obtain a privilege, possession, or enjoyment of a right or thing; CAUSE OF ACTION (1) <claim against the employer for wrongful termination>.
unliquidated damages
Damages that have been established by a verdict or award but cannot be determined by a fixed formula, so they are left to the discretion of the judge or jury. Cf. liquidated damages.
unliquidated debt
See DEBT.