Publication details
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| Title in English | Dangerousness of the Animal as a Prerequisite for Liability for Damages |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Právník |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | Open access článku |
| Keywords | animal; damage; source of danger; liability; endangerment |
| Description | The Civil Code establishes liability for damage caused by an animal in § 2933. As this is a liability for endangerment, one of the unwritten prerequisites for liability is that the dangerousness of the animal materializes in the damage caused. In the present text, I address the question of what that dangerousness should generally consist of, and conclude that the most appropriate criterion will be the contribution of the animal’s energy, or the manifestation of its liveliness, to the resulting damage. On the basis of this generally defined criterion, I deal with typical situations which German legal scholarship has divided into several groups. I consider it correct to abandon the aspect of physiological pressure on the animal because of the vagueness of this criterion and to include the animal’s natural behaviour (mating, displacement, the spread of diseases and pests) in the nexus of danger. If an animal creates an obstacle, we will have to ask whether it has reached the point of collision with a vehicle or a person with the help of its own energy. If so, the condition for inclusion in the nexus of danger will be met. The source of the danger must also include certain injuries that are caused other than by the animal’s direct action on the human or its property. Thus, liability may arise even if the animal causes someone to have a panic attack and he or she is injured while running away. |
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