Damnum
A Latin term which signifies loss or injury of any kind; but in its particular sense means
loss or injury which a person has sustained in his property. Damnum in this particular sense
may include loss of gain which a person is prevented from realizing (
lúcrum cessans), as well as loss of actually acquired property (
damnum emergens). The causes of damnum are either chance, accident (
casus), or acts or omissions of reasonable human beings for which they are
held to be responsible. As a rule no liability arises out of loss or injury to property caused
by accident.
Dolus malus or
culpa—i. e. wilful
or negligent misconduct on the part of the person committing damnum—is, as a rule,
necessary in order to constitute liability; but in exceptional cases a person may be liable,
although neither
dolus malus nor
culpa can be
imputed to him. A wrongful act by which damnum is caused may be either an independent delict,
or the breach of some special duty to which a person has become subject as a breach of
contract. The liability to make good a loss which another has suffered is
praestare damnum. A person liable for damages is, as a rule, bound to put the injured
party in the same position as he would have been in if the act by which the damage was done
had not been committed. He may also be subject to a penalty.