Limitation of Liability

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Limitation of liability in jurisprudence is the reduction of liability by reducing the standard of care and / or limiting the scope of liability.

General

A limitation of liability can affect both the factual and the legal consequences . The moderation of the standard of care concerns the factual side, the limitation of the scope of liability (limitation of the amount of the liability for damages ) the legal consequences. Limitations of liability are the exception in German law and internationally, because the law on damages is governed by the principle of total repair ( § 249 BGB ). Thereafter, the entire damage - regardless of the reason for liability, predictability and degree of fault - must be reimbursed. However, this principle is broken many times.

species

There are limitations of liability, institutional and legal liability limitations provided by law .

Statutory Limitation of Liability

A distinction is often made here between personal injury and property damage , with property damage generally having a lower limitation of liability than personal injury.

The strict liability of the innkeeper , regardless of fault, amounts to a maximum of EUR 3,500 for property damage in accordance with Section 702 (1) BGB.
The liability of children for damage caused by them is excluded or limited according to § 828 , § 829 BGB.
Basically, the purchaser of a vicarious agent must be liable for the vicarious agent in accordance with Section 831 of the German Civil Code, unless he can provide evidence according to Section 831 (1) sentence 2 of the German Civil Code that he has correctly selected and instructed the vicarious agent.
Furthermore, there are legal limitations of liability on the intrinsically usual care ( diligentia quam in suis ) the BGB partner (§ § 708 , § 277 BGB), in proportion to the spouses to each other ( § 1359 BGB), in relation to their children ( § 1664 BGB) or in the ratio of the previous heirs to the subsequent heirs ( § 2131 BGB).

Institutional Limitations of Liability

Institutional limitations of liability apply to the corporate assets of corporations and cooperatives ( Section 1 (1) AktG, Section 13 (2) GmbHG, Section 2 GenG). In the case of these legal entities , liability for liabilities is limited to the company's assets. In the case of the limited liability company (GmbH), this limited scope of liability is already expressed in its name. The GmbH has unlimited liability for liabilities with its company assets; What is meant is rather the limited liability of their shareholders , because they are not liable for the obligations of the GmbH with their private assets . If the shareholders have paid their capital contribution in full, they are free of liability. The piercing the corporate veil breaks this principle, so that the shareholders of corporations in certain cases against the company's creditors personally, jointly and severally with their personal assets for liabilities of the company adhere need. In the case of partnerships , the liability of the partners is usually unlimited (also with their private assets), only the limited partner is only liable to the creditors of the company up to the amount of his contribution ( Section 171 (1) HGB).

Contractual Limitation of Liability

Contractual liability risks are subject to a legally stipulated distribution of liability which can be changed in whole or in part by the contracting parties within the framework of liability clauses. This freedom of contract is subject to the limits of § § 305 ff. BGB.

International

The legal form of the European Company (SE) created in the European Union corresponds to the German AG and thus has a liability-limiting form that applies in all EU member states . In Switzerland there is a judicial assessment of damage and a reduction in liability for negligence in emergencies (Art. 43 Para. 1, 44 Para. 2 OR ). "The type and size of the compensation for the damage incurred is determined by the judge, who has to assess both the circumstances and the extent of the fault" (Art. 43 Para. 1 OR). Similar restrictive regulations exist in Spain (Art. 1103 Código Civil ) and Nordic legal systems; Foreseeable damage is limited in French and partly English contract law. In international air traffic , the Montreal Convention does not provide for any limitation of liability for personal injury, but for property damage an upper limit of 141,833 euros and for luggage damage of 1,418 euros.

The unrestricted damage liability with astronomically high damage sums for comparatively insignificant damage, which is commonly said of the United States, does not generally exist in this form, even if spectacular individual cases suggest this. More than half of all states have liability limits for damages. A small number of states have limits for bodily injury and killings introduced almost a third of the states at least limits the medical liability ( english medical malpractice ) for noneconomic damages ( English noneconomic damages ). The judge has the right to remittit , i.e. the reduction of disproportionately high compensation penalties , and the right to addit if a jury has obviously remained below the appropriate compensation. Virtually particularly significant is the limitation of liability for implicitly accepted guarantees ( English implied warranties ). Exemption clauses are aimed at the implied warranty of merchantability ( English implied warranty of merchantability ) exclude ( UCC 2-316 [2] sentence 1).

See also

literature

  • Burkard Lotz: Limitations of Liability in Plant Contracts, ZfBR 2003, 424 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Alexander Bruns, Limitation of Liability and Minimum Liability , 2003, p. 8.
  2. ↑ The widow of the smoker Jesse Williams, who died in 1997 of lung cancer , received US $ 145 million in damages from the cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA
  3. ↑ see article Stella Liebeck
  4. ↑ Alexander Bruns, Limitation of Liability and Minimum Liability , 2003, p. 64 ff.
  5. ↑ Alexander Bruns, Limitation of Liability and Minimum Liability , 2003, pp. 70 ff.
  6. ↑ Alexander Bruns, Limitation of Liability and Minimum Liability , 2003, p. 82.