The Infringement of Human Dignity as an Aggravating Factor in Tort Law

Abstract

The paper argues for the possibility of aggravating the defendant’s civil liability in cases in which the victim´s human dignity has been infringed, through a disrespectful, degraded or humiliating conduct towards the victim. The Chilean legal system can incorporate this aggravating factor within the determination of non-pecuniary damages, performing an analogous function to aggravated damages in English law. Hence, the defendant’s liability is aggravated because of the way in which he or she treated his or her victim. This allows to aggravate the defendant’s liability without need to invoke the contested punitive damages. It als allows to mark a difference between malicious and merely negligent conduct within tort law.