Magazine date:
Oct 2005 It was on August 15, 2005 that the new legislation, defining the scheme for the compensation of bodily injuries resulting from road accidents, was promulgated. Here are its main provisions:
- AAbolition of liability on the basis of fault. Adoption of the principle of objective liability: all road accidents victims, except the driver at fault, are entitled to compensations.
- The law defines the compensable injuries which are no longer left to the magistrates' discretion.
- The law defines the compensation in accordance with the category of victims:
For the injured persons, the compensation includes health care fees (doctors, medicine, and transportation), loss of revenues, bodily injury, professional damage and moral prejudice).
For the deceased persons, compensation includes: economic damage, moral damage and funeral expenses. - The settlement of the terms pertaining to damage appraisal.
This move, long awaited by insurers, stands as a key issue of the reform. Henceforth, it is no longer the magistrates but the legislation that defines the terms for the calculation of bodily injuries.
Articles 131 to 142 provide for the compensations of damages resulting from irreversible disablement Articles 143 to 166 define the terms for the calculation of compensations as to economic damage and moral damage as well as funeral expenses in case of decease.
- The other novelty introduced by the legislation regards amicable transaction. The legislator enables the victim to choose between amicable settlement and recourse to justice.
- The law defines the terms of the amicable procedure as well as the deadlines granted to insurers for the submission of an offer to the victim having chosen the alternative of an amicable settlement.