Damages
Property damage can be enforced and reimbursed, the consequences of non-property damage can at least be compensated for, since the emotional harm or health loss can hardly be set right. The new Civil Code strengthens the legal position of the damaged party and extends the cases of compensating for property as well as non-property damage. It is however necessary to place high demands on the justification of the demanded amount. Thanks to experience from legal disputes and knowledge of Czech and foreign case law we provide our clients with complex and effective legal services when protecting their rights.
Among the most practical cases is representation in issues of compensating for non-property harm caused:
- during birth, serious spinal cord, nervous system, brain damage
- car accident, motorcycle, bicycle, in-line skates, public transport vehicle accident
- during a sports activity by a third party due to gross negligence
- due to failure to follow protection and safety regulations at work, at construction sites
- due to medical malpractice or negligence by any other person performing specialized work
- to persons placed in the custody of a third party
- during care in a nursing home
- on the shop´s premises, by insufficient maintenance, cleaning, insufficient security
- by sexual assault, either physical or sexual abuse, stalking, forced participation in pornography
- by toxic substances
- by accident at work and occupational disease
- by harm from a disrupted vacation
Satisfaction can be monetary, should moral satisfaction be insufficient, such as an apology, letter or the publication of the sentence. The new Civil Code defines new conditions for determining the size and means of satisfaction. The circumstances of the case, the perpetrator´s conduct, the irreparable consequence and the value of the damaged interest are to be taken into consideration. Compensation for non-property damage can also be demanded by persons close, i.e. those who would consider the harm done to another person as harm done to themselves.
The reimbursement of property damage is possible in cases of:
- Damage caused by a vehicle
- Damage caused by operating activities
- Damage caused by an employee or different helper
- Damage caused by a person who cannot assess the consequences of his conduct
- Damage caused by a person with dangerous personality traits
- Damage caused by especially dangerous service
- Damage to an object put away
- Damage to a raised object
- Damage to a taken object
- Damage caused by an object
- Damage caused by a faulty product
- Damage caused by an animal
- Damage caused by several people at once
- Damage caused by an information or advice
- Damage to real property
- The wounding of an animal
- Damage to an object of particular liking
- Damage caused by a criminal act
Damage is the expression of property loss, be it real (the amount by which the value of the property has decreased) or lost profit (the amount by which the value of the property has not increased as a result of the damaging event). The obligation to compensate for the damage thus falls on the perpetrator, i.e. the one who caused the damage by criminal wrongdoing, violating a contract or good manners. The usual price of the object at the time of its damaging is used to determine the amount of damage, or it is the effective costs spent on restoring the object´s function. Should complications occur then the amount is determined by equitable discretion.
Compensation (pecuniary satisfaction) for the harm done to health and life
The new Civil Code has introduced a fundamental change in the cancellation of fixed evaluation of the compensation for harm done to health and life. The court will thus determine the amount of compensation based on its own consideration with regard to each individual case. The Supreme Court has developed the Methods of compensating for non-property damage as per § 2958 of the new Civil Code. Available for download here.
Unjustified enrichment
Should a third party enrich itself without just cause at the expense of the deprived one, it is obliged to issue property benefits. An honest enriched person must return the profit only to such an extent in which his enrichment lasts at the time when he is being asked by the deprived one for refund. The new Civil Code extends the merits of groundless enrichment. In case of concurrence of the damage causing with the perpetrator´s enrichment, both claims can be enforced.
