Understanding Legal and Moral Accountability

Paul Rodriguez: "It is the attitude of a person to assume the consequences of their actions."

— More than a serious attitude, it is a must.

Areas of Responsibility or Orders

Different sectors in which the subject of law bears the consequences of their actions. In each sector, specific features and principles are distinguished.

1. Moral Responsibility

This is responsibility away from enforceability.

2. Legal Liability

The obligation to take actions may be imposed by force.

• We distinguish different areas of legal liability:
• Civil Liability (R. Civil): It aims to repair the damage.
• Criminal Liability (R. Criminal): It has a punitive purpose, among others.
• Administrative Liability (R. Administrative): The purpose is to punish, but only concerning certain persons who are part of the state administration, who are subject to special regulations (Public staff who violate administrative responsibility).
• Political Liability (R. Policy): It is difficult to define in terms of the nature of politics. Subject to this responsibility are those elected by popular vote and their representatives, and it is the obligation to answer for actions in the exercise of their office.

[NOTE: The same fact could give rise to liability in more than one area.]

I. Civil Liability

The obligation to pay damages for the harm caused.

• Its common ground: Damage.

Background

1. Neminem laedere? Social life imposes a general duty of conduct to avoid harming others.

[NOTE: The study addressed the standard, ever giving more importance to the right of damages. Claims for damages have certainly experienced a boom; this is due to several factors, which highlight the lack of tolerance for damage.]

Areas of Liability

1. Contractual Liability: The damage is generated by the breach of contract.
2. Torts: When the damage arises from the breach of the duty to avoid harming others and without a prior contractual relationship.

Monistic Doctrine

The authors have proposed the unification of these areas, speaking only of civil liability, based on the rationale that they have a common purpose: compensation.

Criticism of this Theory

The occurrence of such damage happens in different ways:

• Contractual liability involves a pre-existing link and damage caused by the breach of contract.
• Tort occurs between strangers (legally) who are not bound by any crime or civil tort.

Pre-contractual Liability: Some authors treat it separately from the contract. Enrique Barros claims it to be a tort.