The jurisprudential principle of full compensation and its development
In France, the principle for victims is full compensation for their loss.
However, this principle has been built up gradually by case law.
Cass. civ. 2, 28 October 1954, JCP, 1955
Cass. civ. 2, 16 December 1970, no. 69-12.617
Cass. civ. 2, 10 December 2015, no. 14-27.209
Cass. civ. 2, 16 July 2020, no. 19-14.982
Cass. civ. 2, 9 May 1972, no. 70-14.150
Cass. civ. 2, 28 April 1975, no. 74-10.448
The “exclusive criterion for determining the claim for compensation lies in the extent of the damage suffered by the victim”.
In other words, all the damage suffered by the victim as a result of the harmful event must be compensated.
An action for damages therefore gives the illusion that its purpose is to restore the victim to the state he was in before the damage occurred.
Unfortunately, this is a fiction, as reparation in kind does not always achieve this result.
If an individual loses a limb in a road accident, legal action will not restore it.
They will only receive compensation designed to enable them to live a life as close as possible to the one they had before.
In practice, it should also be noted that the amounts awarded are, despite indicative scales, largely left to the discretion of the judge.
It is therefore essential to be assisted by a lawyer who is competent in matters of compensation and reparation for bodily injury, as it is he or she who will be able to develop an argument to ensure that all areas of the injury are taken into account.
This is all the more important as the insurance industry is pushing for changes in liability law that would require the victim to take measures to prevent further injury.
For the time being, the legislator has refused to accept this principle in matters of personal injury, and the victim is still considered in all his or her magnitude and aggravation, but it is not impossible that changes will be made to the principle of full compensation for injury.
DAMY remains at your side to assert your right to full compensation.
