Abstract

SANDOVAL GARRIDO, Diego Alejandro. Full compensation and civil liability: The concept of full compensation and its applicability to nonpecuniary damages to the person as a guarantee of the rights of the victims. Rev. Derecho Privado [online]. 2013, n.25, pp.237-271. ISSN 0123-4366.

Abstract As a general principle of responsibility, it is usual to postulate that when the tortfeasor causes injury to another affecting their property, damaging his integrity or violating their fundamental rights, he is obliged to repair the consequences of the infringement of the legal interest of the victim. Specifically, the doctrinal and case-law study with respect to damage to property or material damage has been developed in an environment of stability, in other words, with a few intellectual distractions to seek solutions to problems; doubts have emerged regarding formal considerations or the scope of the extent of damage in its material field. The same cannot be said for non-pecuniary damages. The satisfactory or merely compensatory repair of the violated interests of the victim that lack of material content has delimited the discussion in the field of responsibility. Indeed, the theoretical defense of the principle of full compensation is possible (with some limitations) regarding damage to property or material damage. The opposite is true with regard to non-pecuniary damages. In case of personal injuries or damages to personality rights it is difficult to establish a pecuniary quantum because there is no market value to compare with, that is, they not allow monetary valuation. This paper proposes an analysis of the principle of full compensation and its true importance in the repair of physical injury to the person, bearing in mind the ambivalence, that not only could arise from the strict sense of the term, but also in its implementation in practice.

Keywords : full compensation; liability; tort law; scales of compensation; limitation of liability and indemnity; non-pecuniary damages; harm to the person.

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