Libro Quinto Título VII. Obligaciones que proceden de hechos y actos ilícitos

Any person who causes damage or harm to another, whether intentionally or through carelessness or recklessness, is obligated to repair it, unless they prove that the damage or harm was caused by inexcusable fault or negligence of the victim.

The person liable for an intentional or negligent crime is obligated to make reparation to the victim for the damage or losses caused to them.

Exemption from criminal liability does not release from civil liability, unless the judge so deems in view of the special circumstances of the case.

Fault is presumed, but this presumption admits evidence to the contrary. The injured party is only obligated to prove the damage or harm suffered.157 158

In work accidents, employers are liable, even if fault of the worker intervened; but the employer shall not be liable for the accident when the worker has voluntarily caused it.

The person or enterprise that habitually or occasionally engages in an activity in which it makes use of mechanisms, instruments, apparatuses or substances that are dangerous in themselves, by the speed they develop, by their explosive or flammable nature, by the energy of the electric current they conduct or by other analogous causes, is obligated to answer for the damage or harm it causes, unless it proves that such damage or harm was produced by the intent of the victim.

The companies or the owner of any means of transport shall be jointly and severally liable with the perpetrators and accomplices for the damage or losses caused by the persons in charge of the vehicles, even when the person causing them is not employed by said companies or by the owner of the means of transport, provided that the person in charge of the vehicles entrusted them to him, even if on a transitory basis.

The liability referred to in the preceding article ceases if it is proved that the injured party gave rise to the resulting damage or loss or when the injured party acted in manifest violation of the laws and regulations.

Excess and bad faith in the exercise of a right, or abstention from the same, that causes damage or losses to persons or properties, obligates the holder to indemnify them.

If the person claiming compensation has contributed to causing the damage or harm, the obligation to repair it shall be reduced in proportion to their participation therein.

If the damage consists of bodily injuries, the victim has the right to reimbursement of treatment expenses and to payment of the damage or losses resulting from his or her partial or total bodily incapacity for work, fixed by the judge taking into account the following circumstances:

1°.Age, civil status, occupation or profession of the person who may have been affected;

2°.The obligation of the victim to provide support to the persons who are entitled pursuant to the law; and

3°.Possibility and ability to pay of the obligated party.

In case of death, the heirs of the victim, or the persons who were entitled to be supported by the victim, may claim the compensation which shall be fixed in accordance with the foregoing provisions.

In case of defamation, calumny or insult, reparation shall be determined in proportion to the moral damage and to the losses derived therefrom.

If several persons are guilty of the damage or harm derived from an unlawful act, they shall be jointly and severally liable, unless the part of the damage or harm caused by each one can be determined. Whoever has paid the total amount of the compensation may recover from each of the others for the part fixed by the judge, according to the degree of participation of each in the act, and if it is not possible to determine it, in equal parts.

Whoever causes damage or harm in order to preserve himself or to protect a third party from imminent danger is nevertheless obligated to the reparation fixed by the judge equitably and according to the circumstances; but if the protection redounds exclusively to the benefit of the third party, the latter shall be obligated to such reparation.

Whoever causes damage or harm while accidentally deprived of discernment is not exempt from liability, unless he proves that he fell into this state without his fault.

A minor over fifteen years of age, and an incapacitated person when acting in moments of lucidity, are liable for the damage or losses they cause. In other cases, the parents, tutors or custodians are liable.

The directors of teaching establishments and workshop heads are liable, as applicable, for the damage or losses caused by students or apprentices under fifteen years of age, while they are under their authority or supervision.

The liability referred to in the two preceding articles ceases if the persons covered therein prove that it was impossible for them to avoid the damage or harm. Such impossibility does not result from the circumstance of the act having occurred outside their presence if it appears that they have not exercised supervision over the minors or incapacitated persons.

Employers and owners of workshops, hotels, commercial or industrial establishments and, in general, persons who have another under their dependence, are liable for the damage or losses caused by their employees and other workers in acts of service.

Those who, having the possession or command of any object or element whatsoever, deliver or transfer it to a person who does not offer the necessary guarantees to handle it, are also obligated to answer for the acts of others.

Whoever pays may recover from the author of the damage or loss what he has paid.

Legal persons are liable for the damage or losses caused by their legal representatives in the exercise of their functions.

The State and the municipalities are liable for the damage or losses caused by their public officials or employees in the exercise of their offices.

This liability is subsidiary and may only be enforced when the directly liable public official or employee has no property, or the property held is insufficient to answer for the damage or loss caused.

In the cases of the three preceding articles, whoever pays for the damage or loss has the right to recover against the person who caused it, unless the latter acted in accordance with instructions received from the former and without exceeding them.

Whoever originates an illegal coercive measure or imprisonment and whoever orders them are jointly and severally liable for the damage or harm they cause.

The professional is liable for the damage or losses that he causes by inexcusable ignorance or negligence, or by disclosure of the secrets that he knows by reason of his profession.

The owner or possessor of an animal, or he who has it in his care, is liable for the damage or losses caused by it, even in the case that it has escaped or become lost without his fault. But if the animal was provoked or taken away by a third party or fault of the injured party intervened, liability shall fall upon the latter and not upon the former.

Whoever is threatened with damage or prejudice arising from the building or work of another, installations or trees, has the right to require the owner to take the necessary measures to avoid the danger, in accordance with the provisions of this Code in this regard.

The owner of a building is liable for the damage or loss caused by the total or partial ruin thereof. If the ruin was due to a construction defect, the owner's liability shall be joint and several with that of the builder, but the owner may recover against the latter to be reimbursed for what he may have paid for the damage or losses suffered.

Owners, lessees, possessors and, in general, persons who make use of the property, shall likewise be liable:

1°.For the damage or losses caused by things thrown or fallen therefrom;

2°.For the fall of trees, when not caused by force majeure;

3°.For emanations from sewers or deposits of infectious materials;

4°.For smoke or gases that are noxious, harm or cause annoyance to persons or to properties;

5°.For drains, aqueducts, installations, water deposits, materials or substances that dampen or harm the neighbor's property; and

6°.For noise, vibration, weight or movement of machines or for any other cause giving rise to the damage or loss.

In all these cases, the injured party has the right to demand that the cause giving rise to the damage or loss cease and compensation if applicable.

The action to seek reparation for the damage or losses to which this Title refers is subject to a limitation period of one year, counted from the day on which the damage was caused, or on which the injured party obtained knowledge of the damage or loss, as well as of the person who caused it.

SECOND PART

OF CONTRACTS IN PARTICULAR