Ashby v. White

Facts

• Ashby, a qualified voter in the borough of Aylesbury, was wrongfully prevented from casting his vote by White, the returning officer
• Ashby suffered no quantifiable financial loss as his preferred candidate won the election regardless
• The Queen's Bench (majority) held that since no actual damage occurred, no action lay
• Chief Justice Holt dissented, holding that violation of a legal right itself creates a cause of action

Issues

1. Whether a legal remedy lies for the violation of a right even where no actual damage is proved.
2. Does the maxim ubi jus ibi remedium operate to give a cause of action for infringement of a right per se?

Held

• The House of Lords reversed the Queen's Bench majority and affirmed Chief Justice Holt's dissent
• Every violation of a right imports damage; the law will presume damage when a right is infringed (injuria sine damno)
• Where the law gives a right, it also gives a remedy; to hold otherwise would render rights meaningless
• The plaintiff was entitled to damages even without proof of actual loss

Ratio Decidendi

The maxim ubi jus ibi remedium is a foundational principle: wherever the law confers a right upon a person, the violation of that right gives rise to a cause of action and an entitlement to a remedy, even in the absence of proof of actual pecuniary damage, because the law presumes injury from the infringement of a right itself.