Civil liability law

Civil liability may be engaged in several kind of liabilities : liability due to a wrongful action, liability for the non-compliance to an obligation, etc.
How to fix a wrong that was caused ? How to obtain damages in compensation for the hurt party ? Our law firm is specialized in civil liability and is at your disposal to help you.

What is civil liability ?

The concept of civil liability makes a reference to the duty of each to answer for his actions. It is invoked when a person causes a damage to another one. It implies the obligation to repair for the author of the damage which can be material, physical or moral.

The article 1382 of the French Civil Code states that « Any act committed by a person who causes damage to another shall render the person through whose fault the damage was caused liable to make reparation for it. »

The concept of civil liability is old and rests in France on the articles of the Civil Code of 1804, which have almost never been modified.

However, the French law of civil liability is based on jurisprudence. It is therefore in constant evolution.

We distinguish between two types of civil liability :

• Contractual liability deals with prejudices linked with the non-execution or wrongful execution of a contract
• Tort liability is about prejudices outside all contractual relation.

There is a multitude of cases engaging civil liability : damages caused by oneself or by minor children, by an animal or by an inanimate object under one’s custody (example : a tile falls from your roof on a public road and injures a passerby), hidden defects, rescission, termination or nullity of a contract, etc.

Assistance of a specialized lawyer

The conditions of implementation of civil liability are very specialized and strict. In a general manner, in order to obtain compensation, the victim must establish proof that :

• A harm was suffered
• A wrongful action was committed by one or several individuals
• The damage results from this wrongful action.

It is sometimes very difficult to bring this evidence.

Our firm is competent to assist you in procedures engaging civil liability, to help you in the research of elements aiming at proving the damage and the wrongful action, and to constitute your case file in order to present and estimate your damage.