Abstract:
The observance of individuals' contractual rights by other members of society is a desirable goal that is sometimes not achieved. After a harmful act is committed and loss is inflicted upon the right-holder, they are placed in an unfavorable situation. This unpleasant situation causes the obligor to resort to the contractual civil liability system to assert his rights and claim damages.The contractual liability system employs various mechanisms to safeguard the rights of claimants. Damages methods are categorized into two groups, Compensatory and non-compensatory damages, based on their underlying objectives. In determining the amount payable for compensatory damages, the primary focus is on compensating the aggrieved party for incurred losses. In contrast, non-compensatory damages center on factors such as the wrongdoer’s bad faith or stripping the violator of unlawfully obtained benefits.However, it is often stated in civil liability law that the customary and normal method of paying damages in contractual civil liability is to pay “Compensatory damages”, i.e., expectation damages and reliance damages. However, the insistence on the traditional method of paying damages should not neglect the civil liability system from other methods. In this regard, the common law legal system has moved towards accepting other types of damages with the aim of depriving the infringer of benefits. Among these damages, which is the subject of this article, is the disgorgement damages.Disgorgement damages - a form of non-compensatory damages and, in essence, a gain-based remedy - has drawn the attention of Iranian legal scholars due to its common law origins. In this context, several key questions arise concerning its justification within Iranian law: How can the concept and position of this legal remedy be analyzed among other damages? What are the challenges and applications of this mechanism within the civil liability system?In addition, the fundamental question of why the traditional methods of paying damages and reaching a new and novel path of denying benefits resulting from infringement of rights still remain. In fact, the main question is why the American and English legal systems, along with the traditional methods of paying damages, have focused their attention and focus on denying benefits resulting from infringement of rights? What are the inadequacies and shortcomings of traditional methods that have forced common law scholars to break their habit and struggle to find the scope of application of disgorgement damages? Above this, what exactly are the functions and goals that can be achieved by the new institution of disgorgement damages? These questions seem natural to lawyers of a system based on written law, such as Iranian law, because if an unjustifiable answer is reached, there will be no need to examine this institution in our country's legal system.This study adopts an analytical-descriptive approach with a comparative perspective on the legal systems of the United States and England to address these questions. Ultimately, it appears that despite existing challenges, disgorgement of profits can serve as an exceptional and highly effective remedy in contractual liability.In other words, given the long history and reliance of the civil liability system on compensatory damages, the introduction and consolidation of the aforementioned remedies will naturally face several challenges. In this type of damage, instead of paying attention to the amount of damage caused to the right holder, the amount of benefits gained by him is considered. In fact, the acceptance of this institution causes the view of the compensation system in compulsory and contractual civil liability to shift from focusing solely on the injured party and, in this way, to also address the situation of the violator.If the main goal of compensatory damages is to create the maximum indifference between the situation before and after the injured party (after the occurrence of the harmful event), the goal of disgorgement damages is to create this indifference in the situation of the violator. Naturally, this approach to damages requires justification.In fact, Challenges such as the uncertainty of commercial contracts, the principle of full compensation, the obligation to deal with the damage, the adequacy of compensatory damages, and the lack of attention to the skill and effort of the infringer reinforce the tendency to reject and recognize the aforementioned institution.However, it seems that, first, all the challenges mentioned are weak in terms of their basis and cannot seriously challenge the acceptance of disgorgement damages; second, disgorgement damages has undeniable benefits (such as helping to achieve the goals of civil liability, etc.); and third, disgorgement damages does not seek to replace and be placed in the presence of other damages, but rather the main purpose of this remedy is to fill the gaps in the traditional and customary methods of paying damages.More precisely, the disgorgement damages will play a certain role during the other existing remedies and in cases of their inefficiency. The result is that, at least from a theoretical perspective, there is no significant obstacle to the entry and recognition of disclaimers of interest in the civil liability system.
Machine summary:
Disgorgement of profits resulting from the violation of rights falls within the category of non-compensatory damages, which, due to its Common Law background, has attracted the attention of Iranian legal scholars.
Familiarity with the concept of disgorgement of profits resulting from the violation of a right in the contractual civil liability system requires an understanding and awareness of the methods of paying damages (in general) and the position of the mentioned concept in this system (in particular).
It is worth noting that the mission of this article is not to investigate the foundations, elements, or the feasibility of the current existence of the disgorgement of profits resulting from the violation of a right in contractual civil liability (especially in Iranian law).
In technical terms, some have placed this institution in contrast to the concept of damage repair, stating that while in compensatory damages, the goal of paying damages is exclusively to compensate for the loss of the plaintiff or the victim of the civil liability lawsuit, conversely, in "disgorgement of profits resulting from the violation of a right", the focus of payment is solely on the profits gained by the defendant or the violator and the removal of those profits from the defendant's assets.
In fact, one of the elements of disgorgement of profits resulting from the violation of a right in American and English law is the "inadequacy"3 of compensatory damages and also the impossibility of compelling specific performance in protection of the claimant's violated rights in a contractual civil liability lawsuit.
(
, 
, 
)
