Week 4

A. What is Article 2178?

Article 2178 states that the provisions of article 1172 to 1174 are also applicable to a quasi-
delict.
 1172 – Responsibility arising from negligence in the performance of any kind of
obligation is also demandable, but such liability may be regulated by the courts,
according to circumstances.
 1173 – The fault or negligence of the obligor consists in the omission of that diligence
which is required by the nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances
of the persons, of the time and of the place. When negligence shows bad faith, the
provisions of articles 1171 and 2201, paragraph 2, shall apply.

If the law or contract does not state the diligence which is to be observed in the
performance, that which is expected of a good father of a family shall be required.
 1174 – Except in cases expressly specified by the law, or when it is otherwise declared by
stipulation, or when the nature of the obligation requires the assumption of risk, no
person shall be responsible for those events which could not be foreseen, or which,
though foreseen, were inevitable.

B. What is Article 2179?

When the plaintiff's own negligence was the immediate and proximate cause of his injury, he
cannot recover damages. But if his negligence was only contributory, the immediate and
proximate cause of the injury being the defendant's lack of due care, the plaintiff may recover
damages, but the courts shall mitigate the damages to be awarded.
C. What is proximate cause?
The actions of the person (or entity) who owes you a duty must be sufficiently related to your
injuries such that the law considers the person to have caused your injuries in a legal sense. If
someone’s actions are a remote cause of your injury, they are not a proximate cause. However, if
your injury would not have occurred “but for” the actions of another, then usually you can
conclude there was proximate causation.
D. What are the tests to determine existence of proximate cause? Discuss each.
Foreseeability test – this test means that when the particular harm was reasonably foreseeable at
the time of the defendant’s misconduct, his act or omission is the legal cause thereof.
E. What is contributory negligence?
Contributory negligence involves the notion of some fault or breach of duty on the part of the
employee; and since it is ordinary his duty to take some precaution for his own safety when
engaged in hazardous occupation, contributory negligence is sometimes defined as a failure to
use such care for his safety as ordinarily prudent employees in similar circumstances would use.