Extra-Contractual Liability In Québec

Extra-Contractual Liability In Québec
4. Extra-Contractual Liability In Quebec

In Quebec, the general regime for extra-contractual liability (comparable to common law tort liability) is set out in Article 1457 of the CCQ, which reads:

Every person has a duty to abide by the rules of conduct which lie upon him, according to the circumstances, usage or law, so as not to cause injury to another.

Where he is endowed with reason and fails in this duty, he is responsible for any injury he causes to another person by such fault and is liable to reparation for the injury, whether it be bodily, moral or material in nature.

He is also liable, in certain cases, to reparation for injury caused to another by the act or fault of another person or by the act of things in his custody.

Subsequent articles in the Civil Code of Quebec deal with particular cases, such as liability for the act of a minor and liability for the act of a thing. To bring a successful action for extra-contractual liability in Quebec, a plaintiff must prove:

•Fault on the part of the defendant.
•Injury suffered by the plaintiff.
•A causal link between the fault and the injury.
4.1 Duty of Care

Unlike the common law, the civil law creates a generalized duty of care between all individuals living together in a society. While at first this may seem to broaden the scope of extra-contractual liability in Quebec, the civil law has adopted a more restrictive approach to both fault and causation to compensate.