Ex gratia

Ex gratia (sometimes ex-gratia) is Latin and is most often used in a legal context. When something has been done ex gratia, it has been done voluntarily, out of kindness or grace. In law, an ex gratia payment is a payment made without the giver recognising any liability or legal obligation.

The phrase is pronounced ex grah-tsee-ah.

Examples of ex gratia payments

Compensation payments are often made ex gratia when a government or organisation is prepared to compensate victims of an event such as an accident or similar, but not to admit liability to pay compensation, or for causing the event.

When the USS Vincennes accidentally fired upon Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing some 290 individuals, the President of the United States decided that the United States would offer compensation, on an ex gratia basis, to the families of the victims.
In the aftermath of the Swedish Neurosedyn scandal in 1961, the Swedish Government finally decided to compensate the victims in 2003 with ex gratia payments of SEK 500,000 each.
In a more routine context, the document Suffolk County Council Education: Ex-Gratia Payments for Loss of or Damage to Personal Property shows how an education authority compensates victims for damage, but without accepting a liability to do so.

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