Article 15 of the Civil Code. Indemnification of losses

Legislation provides for various ways to restore the violated rights of subjects. Direct damages are one of them. Let us further consider the norm to which it is established.

Art. 15 Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Compensation for damages caused to a person as a result of a violation of his rights shall be made in full, unless the contract or law provides for a smaller amount of compensation. As such losses, expenses that the subject will have to carry out or have already produced for the restoration of his financial position are expenditures . The lost profit that a person would receive under normal conditions of turnover in the event that his rights were not violated is also recognized as losses. Art. 15 of the Civil Code also provides for the possibility of the victim to claim compensation for lost profits. It is income that the violator of the law received as a result of his wrongful actions.

Art. 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with comments

In the considered norm, the concept of property losses is connected with an offense and is regarded as one of the categories of legal responsibility. Meanwhile, it should be taken into account that the interpretation of losses is quite common. Often, they are understood as negative consequences for a person's property status. They are expressed in the need to make certain expenses or to preserve the material sphere unchanged, while it must expand. At the same time, the imposition of the obligation to compensate losses in such cases can not be regarded as a form of prosecution. In part 1 of Art. Article 15 of the Civil Code establishes the possibility of demanding full compensation. As a general rule, the recovery of losses in a larger volume will lead to unjust enrichment. Meanwhile, there are a lot of exceptions from it. In this case, they are installed both in one and the other direction. For example, it is allowed to compensate for the penalty beyond loss.

The smaller amount of levying under the contract

Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains the possibility of establishing by legislation or agreement compensation in a smaller amount than the losses incurred by the victim. Formulation of restrictions related to recovery is quite a common phenomenon in law. For example, under an agreement on paid provision of services, the customer can refuse them provided that the costs actually incurred by the contractor are reimbursed. With the loss or shortage of cargo, the carrier must compensate for the value of the lost or missing volume.

The restriction, which establishes Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is specified in 717 norm. It determines that, in addition to payment to the contractor of the part stipulated in the cost agreement in proportion to the volume of work performed prior to receipt of the notice of the customer's refusal, the latter must compensate for losses arising from the termination of contractual relations. In this case, the recovery is carried out within the difference between the price for the service and part of the amount already paid. This norm does not provide for an exception from the general procedure for compensation and does not remove from the plaintiff the obligation to prove the existence of losses. It only limits the amount of foreclosure if the actual damage is higher than the statutory limit.

Legislative limits of liability

The most general order is established in 401 norm (item 4). In accordance with it, an agreement signed in advance to limit or eliminate liability for the assumption of willful violation of the obligation is considered null and void. After the infringement of rights, in intent, including, in practice, the situation of limitation of liability is possible. For example, this is achieved through an amicable agreement. Limitation of liability occurs when an exceptional penalty is established.

The corresponding agreement can be concluded both before and after the occurrence of losses. The law or the contract may establish compensation for losses in a smaller amount, but it is not permitted to provide for the possibility of recovering a larger amount than the expenses incurred or to indicate inadmissibility of compensation.

Real damage

P. 2 tbsp. 15 of the Civil Code divides the losses into two categories. One of them is real damage. It is expressed primarily in the costs that the victim will incur in the restoration of his rights. In this case, in Art. 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation mean different situations. They are connected both with cessation, but with the possibility of restoring the right, and with the continuation of its existence, but in a deformed form. For example, the subject acquired an object of improper quality. Accordingly, the cost of correcting defects is assumed or has already been incurred.

An Important Moment

The court practice in cases of compensation for losses is quite extensive. In public access there are many examples of lawsuits, decisions on disputes. The subject can start the process on his own. However, in some cases it is advisable to contact a lawyer. At the first meeting, as a rule, a free legal advice is given. During the meeting, the main issues of the proceedings will be clarified. In particular, the claimant should take into account that the need for costs to be recovered, their estimated value should be justified by calculation and other documents. For example, it can be the costing of the elimination of defects, an agreement that establishes the amount of responsibility for the offender, and so on.

Loss of property

This is another form of expressing the real damage envisaged by Art. 15 of the Civil Code. In the quality of property are primarily material objects. Damage is expressed in the disappearance (death) of things. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in the property sphere. In addition, the real damage under Art. 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation should be considered termination of rights, if they can not be restored. Compensation for losses in these situations is expressed in monetary terms.

Example

The partnership filed a lawsuit with the requirement to oblige the enterprise to transfer 2 apartments in kind, in accordance with the participation agreement. During the consideration of the application by the respondent, the claims were accepted. However, the subject referred to the impossibility of fulfilling the obligation assumed, since the house in which the apartments were located was inhabited. In accordance with the situation, the plaintiff changed the subject of the application and demanded to compensate for losses in the form of the cost of living space. The first instance court satisfied the claims. The defendant was charged the amount that amounted to the estimated cost of apartments at the date of signing the contract.

The plaintiff, challenging this decision, pointed out that compensation in the light of inflation does not allow buying two equivalent housing. Accordingly, there was an obstacle to the restoration of his rights to him. By decision of the appellate instance, changes were made to the decision. In particular, in the applicant's favor, an amount sufficient to purchase apartments similar in quality to those that should have been handed over to him under the contract was recovered. The court was guided first of all by Art. 15 of the Civil Code. In determining the amount of damage, rules 393 of the rule were applied additionally (paragraph 3).

Lost profit

Unearned profit is expressed in the supposed (conceivable) replenishment of the property sphere of the victim, which would have occurred during the normal course of events, if his right was not violated. As the experts note, the provision of the second paragraph of the rule in question is applicable in a fairly limited number of cases. In practice, it is rather difficult, and in many situations it is impossible to prove the profit receipt by the violator of the law and justify its size.

Specificity of dealing with cases

In dealing with cases in which the conflict arises from tax or other administrative and financial relations, it is necessary to take into account that the provisions of civil law are applicable to them only on condition that the corresponding possibility is established by norms. Judicial practice is based on the fact that organizations and citizens, in accordance with the rules of the commented Art. 15, have the right to make claims for compensation for damages that have arisen in connection with the unjustified imposition of economic sanctions by the Tax Inspectorate, customs authorities, pricing authorities, and other institutions of state power.

Compensation for damage as a measure of protection

Collection may be carried out in order to ensure the protection of any subjective law (exclusive, property, obligation). At the same time, it does not matter whether there are any instructions on this subject in special norms. Compensation for damage acts as a universal method of protecting the interests of the victim. This is reflected in the fact that losses can be reimbursed simultaneously with the imposition of penalties, interest for using other people's money and so on. In some cases, compensation for damage is carried out together with the application of other sanctions prescribed by law. This provision refutes the widely held view that two or more penalties for one violation should not be used.

Conclusion

In practice, the recovery of compensation is considered a rather laborious task. This is due not so much to the complexity of the substantive provisions applied to such cases, as to the existence of valuation categories in which it is necessary to understand. The burden of proving the existence of damage rests with the applicant. It needs to confirm not only the very fact of its occurrence, but also the material right to its compensation, the absence of obstacles to recovery, the amount of losses and so on.

Free legal advice will only reveal the tip of the iceberg in such cases. But if the subject is really ready to go to the end in the matter of restoring his rights, it is advisable to use the services of a lawyer. The lawyer will not only help you to understand the situation, draft a suit, but also explain possible options for the development of events. Particular attention will be paid to calculations. The amount of damages to be paid must be commensurate with the violation. This does not mean that a subject can claim compensation only for a specific actual damage. He has the right to expect and for a large amount, if such an opportunity is determined in the contract or the law.