What is civil liability and when must compensation be paid?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It is the obligation to make good the damage caused to another person, normally by paying them compensation. It is not a punishment, as criminal liability is, but the way of putting the victim back in the position they would have been in if the damage had not occurred. Compensation must be paid when real damage is caused by failing to perform a contract or by acting with fault or negligence. In some cases the law requires compensation to be paid without any need to prove fault, as with damage caused by an animal or injuries in a road traffic accident. You are also liable for damage caused by certain people in your charge, such as under-age children or employees. What is required Conduct, whether doing something or failing to do it, by the person liable or by something in their charge, such as their animal, their vehicle or their building. Real damage, which can be proved and valued in money. Without damage there is no compensation, even if there has been carelessness. A causal link between that conduct and the damage. A reason for attributing the damage to them. Normally this is their fault or negligence. In some cases the risk involved in what they do or what they own is enough. Where it arises from From a contract that is not performed or is performed badly, such as instructing a lawyer or a renovation company. From damage caused without a contract through fault or negligence, such as water reaching the flat below from a poorly maintained pipe. From a criminal offence. Anyone responsible for an offence is also responsible for making good the damage it causes. Even if there is no criminal conviction, they may have to pay compensation if their fault is proved in civil proceedings. From the law, which in some cases makes people liable without any need to prove fault. Those liable in this way include the keeper of an animal, even if it escapes, the owner of trees that fall in places where people pass, whoever lives in a house for anything that falls or is thrown from it, the driver for the injuries they cause and the manufacturer for damage caused by its defective products. From the acts of others. Parents are liable for damage caused by their under-age children in their care, businesses for damage caused by their employees in the course of their work and schools for damage caused by their under-age pupils while under the supervision of their teachers. They only escape liability if they prove that they did everything they should have done to prevent it, something the courts rarely accept. When compensation is not paid or is reduced The normal risks of everyday life are not compensated. Tripping through your own carelessness or over a clearly visible obstacle does not make anyone liable. If the victim contributed to causing the damage, the compensation is reduced proportionately. If it was entirely their own fault, there is nothing to pay. Even where liability does not depend on fault, force majeure, which is an unforeseeable or unavoidable event beyond the control of the person liable, usually releases them. This is the case, for example, with the owner of an animal. If the person liable has liability insurance, the insurer pays on their behalf up to the policy limit. The victim can claim against the insurer directly. In Catalonia these same rules of the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”) apply, because the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, does not regulate this matter in general terms. What it does have is its own time limit for claiming.