(vii)

Where no defence is entered by a defendant a court may assume that no

defence was possible.

(viii)

The measure of damages to be awarded in any case must be assessed against

the background of local conditions.

(ix)

Before an appellate court can interfere with an award of damages it must be

shown that the trial judge has applied a wrong principle or has misapprehended the acts
or that his award is so high or so low as to be utterly unreasonable. It is no ground for
varying an award made by the trial judge that the judges in the appellate court would
have awarded a different sum.

(x)

Where there is a series of actions against different defendants in respect of the

same or substantially the same libel, the court in the first case can deal with the matter
only on very broad lines, doing its best to ensure that the plaintiff is fully compensated
for the damage caused by the publication of the particular libel which is the subject of
that action, bearing in mind that he should not be compensated twice for the same loss.

(xi)

It is the duty of the court hearing a later action to take into account the damages

awarded in an earlier action.

(xii)

Where the various defendants have been brought before the court at different

times the court must do its best to consider the compensatory damages as if the actions
had been consolidated.

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