Legal Definitions - solatium

Solatium refers to a type of compensation awarded in legal cases, primarily under Scots law, to acknowledge and provide some measure of comfort for emotional distress, grief, or hurt feelings suffered by an individual. Unlike damages intended to cover specific financial losses or physical injuries, solatium is specifically aimed at recognizing the non-economic impact of a wrongful act or loss on a person's emotional well-being.

Here are a few examples illustrating how solatium might apply:

• Wrongful Death of a Loved One: Imagine a situation where a pedestrian is tragically killed due to a negligent driver. While the victim's family would likely receive compensation for financial losses such as lost income and funeral expenses, solatium would be awarded to the surviving spouse and children to acknowledge and provide some solace for their immense emotional pain, profound grief, and the loss of companionship. This compensation addresses their non-economic suffering rather than their financial hardship.

• Defamation and Reputational Harm: Consider a scenario where a local newspaper publishes a false and damaging article about a respected community leader, accusing them of unethical behavior. The leader suffers severe emotional distress, humiliation, and a damaged reputation within their community, even if their job or income isn't directly impacted financially. In this instance, solatium would be sought to compensate the community leader specifically for the hurt feelings, mental anguish, and reputational damage caused by the defamatory statements, separate from any direct financial loss.

• Emotional Trauma from Witnessing an Accident: Picture a parent who witnesses their child being severely injured in an accident caused by another party's negligence. While the parent themselves is not physically harmed, they suffer severe emotional shock, anxiety, and distress from witnessing the traumatic event and its impact on their child. Here, solatium could be awarded to the parent for their own psychological suffering, emotional distress, and trauma directly resulting from witnessing the incident, even though they did not sustain a physical injury themselves. It compensates for their non-economic emotional harm.