Chapter Second: Assessment of Damages

Article 260

Compensatory damages must exactly match the suffered prejudice and missed profit.

Article 261

Article 261 - Indirect damages are taken into account as direct damages, but only if they can be linked with complete certainty to the non-performance of the obligation.

Article 262

Article 262 - In contractual matters, compensation only concerns damages that were foreseeable at the time of contract formation, unless the debtor did not act in bad faith.

Article 263

Article 263 - Moral damages are to be considered as material damages, provided that their pecuniary evaluation is reasonably possible.

Article 264

Article 264 - Future damages may be taken into account in the manner and extent provided for indemnification for tortious liability under Article 134 § 6.

Article 265

Article 265 - When the debt is for a sum of money, moral damages consist, in the absence of contrary clauses, in the interest on the amount due, calculated at the legal rate. However, if the debtor is in bad faith, the creditor, injured by an unjustified refusal, may be awarded additional damages.

Article 266

Article 266 - The parties may fix in advance, in the contract or by subsequent act, the amount of damages for the case of total or partial non-performance of the obligations owed to the debtor. The penal clause constitutes the reparation of the damages that the creditor suffers from the non-performance of the obligation. The creditor cannot claim both the principal and the penalty at the same time, unless the latter was stipulated only for a simple delay or as an attachment (Condemnation to a sum of money accessory and eventual). The judge may reduce the attachment if it appears excessive to him. The penalty can be reduced by the judge if the main obligation has been partially performed.

Article 267

Article 267 - A penal clause is valid even if it would in fact be equivalent to a non-liability clause, provided that the debtor's fraud is reserved.