NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

223 LAW OF OBLIGATIONS General Principles of Indemnity Claims for Personal Injury* Att. Piraye Erdem Introduction It is possible to face various types of tort in ordinary life. One of the most common examples of a tort is personal injury that a person has suffered. These may be traffic accidents, as well as occupational accidents, or poisoning, physical injuries in public places, such as ho- tels and restaurants. Liability arising from personal injuries is regulated in the section entitled Debt Relations Arising from Torts, and in Article 49 of Turk- ish Code of Obligations numbered 6098 (“TCO”). As it is seen in the abovementioned section, there are four elements that comprise a tort in Turkish Law: These are negligence, unlawfulness, causal relation and damage. In cases for damages that are filed due to death or physi- cal damage, the intention is to indemnify the damages of the aggrieved party, provided that these four elements are proven. Compensation In cases claiming damages that are filed in the Turkish civil courts as a result of personal injury, the court may award both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. Pursuant to Article 53 of the TCO, if death occurs as a result of the incident, the pecuniary damage items that may be claimed are funeral expenses, treatment costs if death does not occur immediately, and losses due to the decrease, or loss of capacity to work, and sustained loss suffered by persons who are deprived of the support of the deceased. If the result is physical damage, pursuant to Article 54 of the TCO, the pecuniary damage items that may be claimed are treatment costs, loss of earnings, losses due to the de- * Article of April 2019