What is the meaning of Actio Legis Aquiliae?
The actio legis Aquiliae, also known as the lex Aquilia or the Aquilian action, is a general delictual action used to claim for patrimonial or financial loss. It can be used to claim compensation in cases where the defendant unlawfully (and in a culpable manner) destroyed or damaged the property concerned.
What is an Aquilian action?
The Aquilian Action (actio aquiliae or lex aquilia) of Roman Dutch Law of Delict gives a general remedy for wrongs caused to interests of subjects to claim compensation for the patrimonial loss sustained.
What legal remedy is available to the victim of Iniuria?
A specific remedy exists in our law in the form of the actio injuriarum which provides a general remedy for wrongs to interests of personality. In the action injuriarum ‘sentimental damages’ are awarded as a solatium to assuage the Plaintiff’s injured feelings of dignity and reputation.
What is non patrimonial loss?
Non patrimonial loss does not really have a monetary value. However, the damages awarded will be in monetary terms. Examples of non-patrimonial loss are pain and suffering, emotional shock, disfigurement, loss of amenities of life and shortened life expectancy.
Can I sue someone for emotional distress in South Africa?
A civil lawsuit can often be obtained from emotionally distressed parties. A claim involving emotional trauma or distress, if it is backed up with evidence, might result in a lawsuit.
What is negligence in South African law?
Negligence. Negligence (culpa) occurs where there is an inadequate standard of behaviour. It reflects the law’s disapproval of the defendant’s conduct. The conduct is tested against what the reasonable person in the position of the defendant would have foreseen and what he would have done to avoid the consequences.
What is the meaning of Dolus Eventualis?
The last ‘dolus’ in a murder charge is that of dolus eventualis or legal intention. This is where an accused person can objectively foresee that his conduct is likely to cause the death of another, but proceeds to act regardless of the consequences of his conduct.
What is a delictual remedy?
The delictual inquiry ‘is in fact a loss-allocation exercise, the principles and rules of which are set out in the law of delict’. The classic remedy for a delict is compensation: a claim of damages for the harm caused.
What is the punishment for crimen injuria?
A person found guilty of crimen injuria will, once convicted, have a criminal record. A first-time offender could be sentenced to a fine and a suspended sentence for a specified period, subject to the offender not re-offending. Re-offending, or contempt of a court order, may result in imprisonment.
What is the difference between patrimonial and non patrimonial loss?
Patrimonial loss= directly/ naturally expressed in money while non-pecuniary loss= indirect measurable ito money.
What are patrimonial claims?
Patrimonial damages, is also called “special damages”. It means that you are allowed to claim the monetary equivalent of the actual loss you suffered. The rational being that a claimant must be put in the same position that he/she would have been in, but for the injury suffered.
What is delictual damage?
In assessing delictual damages the plaintiff is burdened with the duty to prove loss with a preponderance of probability, including uncertain future loss. In quantifying such a claim an actuary is often used to make actuarial calculations based on proven facts and realistic assumptions regarding the future.
What is delictual law?
Delictual liability is concerned with damages suffered by a person resulting from a wrongful act, or omission of another, for which that person is entitled to compensation in terms of our common law.
What is actio legis Aquilia?
1. Origin and development The lex Aquilia, enacted by a plebescite circa 286 BC, awarded the actio legis Aquiliae as a delictual and penal remedy for wrongful and negligent damage to property. Originally this legal remedy was available to a freeman who was wrongfully and negligently wounded because he was considered not to have owned his own body.
What is the lex Aquilia?
Origin and development The lex Aquilia, enacted by a plebescite circa 286 BC, awarded the actio legis Aquiliae as a delictual and penal remedy for wrongful and negligent damage to property. Originally this legal remedy was available to a freeman who was wrongfully and negligently wounded because he was considered not to have owned his own body.
Does the lex Aquilia apply in novel duty situations?
It is so that, in principle, our law adopts a conservative approach to the extension of remedies under the lex Aquilia. [35] However, these cases do not serve as a bar to the extension of liability in novel duty situations. The challenge remains to “exercise a value judgment embracing all relevant facts and involving considerations of policy”.
a duty of care; foreseeable harm; an unlawful incursion into another’s economic sphere. The remedy available is the Aquilian action, which is employed to recover pecuniary loss suffered as a result of injury to person and property by the wrongful act (negligence) of another.