- Statute
- Civil Code
- Article
- Art. 2229
- Topic
- Exemplary or corrective damages
- Year
- 1949
The provision
ARTICLE 2229. Exemplary or corrective damages are imposed, by way of example or correction for the public good, in addition to the moral, temperate, liquidated or compensatory damages.
Key points
Article 2229 defines exemplary or corrective damages: they are imposed by way of example or correction for the public good, in addition to moral, temperate, liquidated, or compensatory damages.
Two features stand out — exemplary damages serve a public, deterrent purpose, and they are additional to other damages rather than a stand-alone award. The article heads the Code's section on exemplary damages and is read with Article 2230 (criminal offenses), Article 2231 (quasi-delicts), Article 2232 (contracts and quasi-contracts), Article 2233 (not a matter of right), and Article 2234 (pleading and proof).
Because the award is by way of example or correction for the public good, exemplary damages presuppose that the plaintiff is already entitled to another, established category of damages — moral, temperate, liquidated, or compensatory — as Article 2234 requires. They cannot stand alone. The specific ground depends on the source of the obligation: an aggravating circumstance in criminal offenses (Article 2230), gross negligence in quasi-delicts (Article 2231), or wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent conduct in contracts and quasi-contracts (Article 2232).