South Carolina § 36-1-305 - Remedies to be liberally administered.

§ 36-1-305. Remedies to be liberally administered.

(a) The remedies provided by the Uniform Commercial Code must be liberally administered to the end that the aggrieved party may be put in as good a position as if the other party had fully performed, but neither consequential or special damages nor penal damages may be had except as specifically provided in the Uniform Commercial Code or by other rule of law.

(b) Any right or obligation declared by the Uniform Commercial Code is enforceable by action unless the provision declaring it specifies a different and limited effect.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 10.1-106; 1966 (54) 2716; former 1976 Code SECTION 36-1-106; 2014 Act No. 213 (S.343), SECTION 1, eff October 1, 2014.SECTION

OFFICIAL COMMENTS

Source: Former Section 1-106.

Changes from former law: Other than changes in the form of reference to the Uniform Commercial Code, this section is identical to former Section 1-106.

1. Subsection (a) is intended to effect three propositions. The first is to negate the possibility of unduly narrow or technical interpretation of remedial provisions by providing that the remedies in the Uniform Commercial Code are to be liberally administered to the end stated in this section. The second is to make it clear that compensatory damages are limited to compensation. They do not include consequential or special damages, or penal damages; and the Uniform Commercial Code elsewhere makes it clear that damages must be minimized. Cf. Sections 1-304, 2-706(1), and 2-712(2). The third purpose of subsection (a) is to reject any doctrine that damages must be calculable with mathematical accuracy. Compensatory damages are often at best approximate: they have to be proved with whatever definiteness and accuracy the facts permit, but no more. Cf. Section 2-204(3).

2. Under subsection (b), any right or obligation described in the Uniform Commercial Code is enforceable by action, even though no remedy may be expressly provided, unless a particular provision specifies a different and limited effect. Whether specific performance or other equitable relief is available is determined not by this section but by specific provisions and by supplementary principles. Cf. Sections 1-103, 2-716.

3. "Consequential" or "special" damages and "penal" damages are not defined in the Uniform Commercial Code; rather, these terms are used in the sense in which they are used outside the Uniform Commercial Code.

Editor's Note

"This act," referred to in this section, means Act No. 1065 of the 1966 Acts and Joint Resolutions, originally codified as Titles 10.1 to 10.10 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina 1962, and now codified as Title 36 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976.

2014 Act No. 213, SECTION 51, provides as follows:

"SECTION 51. This act becomes effective on October 1, 2014. It applies to transactions entered into and events occurring after that date."