Civil liability law [DRHDB103]

Learning outcomes

Specific skills

• Mastering the concepts of civil liability which will serve as a basis for other courses taken later in the course, such as the law of obligations, but also, for example, private international law.

• To make students aware of the praetorian nature of the subject and the importance of analysing the case law on this subject.

Cross-cutting competences

• Master the precision of legal vocabulary and understand the issues at stake.

• Cite the relevant legal bases for a reasoning and know the teachings of the supreme courts and mainly of the Court of Cassation.

• Apply the theoretical developments taught in the lecture to concrete cases.

• To develop critical thinking skills in order to be able to form an opinion on subjects that are the subject of doctrinal controversy.

• Introduce language skills in Dutch legal terminology.

Objectives

- To train the student in a legal discipline considered essential, ensuring rigorous mastery of the learning outcomes.

- To inculcate in the student the concepts, principles and institutions of the law of civil liability, to confront him with the legal texts and the principal jurisprudential decisions in the matter, to make him perceive the evolutions in progress and their range, finally to develop his aptitude to apply the principles and texts to concrete cases.

Content

The course opens with an introduction that briefly traces the history of the law of civil liability, highlights its foundations and functions, and examines the relationship between civil liability and criminal liability, highlighting rules such as the res judicata effect of the criminal decision on the civil trial or the principle that the criminal holds the civil in state.

The regime of articles 1382 and 1383 of the former Civil Code will first of all be explained by structuring the presentation around the three conditions of application. Civil fault will also be presented through its three constituent elements. The causal link will then be developed by highlighting the principal theory retained by the Court of Cassation, namely the equivalence of conditions, as well as its implications and the possible arrangements. Finally, the damage will be discussed by presenting, firstly, its definition and its characteristics. Secondly, the reparation of this damage will be examined through the main principles of reparation and the presentation of the main categories of prejudice.

After having reviewed the three conditions of article 1382 of the former Civil Code, it will be a question of the means of defence which can be invoked by the person responsible. It will be a question of exposing the various causes of justification, but also the exonerating foreign causes, namely force majeure, the fault of a third party or the fault of the victim.

The presumptions of liability will then be detailed. The very principle of presumption will be explained before turning to the presumptions of vicarious liability. The rules common to these presumptions will be explained. The three presumptions will thus be reviewed. For each of them, the conditions of application will be explained before highlighting their specific effects. Next, the presumptions of liability in respect of things will be analysed. The presumptions relating to things and animals will be considered, while the presumption relating to ruined buildings will be presented only as a reminder because of its limited practical interest.

Special compensation regimes will still be examined. The aim will be to make the student understand that there are other bases for civil liability than fault. Emphasis will be placed on the particularities of these regimes by showing how they derogate from the ordinary law. Article 29bis of the law of 21 November 1989, which sets up a system of automatic compensation for weak users in the event of a traffic accident, will be explained. The law of 25 February 1991 on defective products will also be presented.

Finally, some developments will be devoted to quasi-contracts (business management, undue payment and unjust enrichment).