In Decision No. 00-2024-4689 (671), dated 27/11/2024, the Civil Chamber of the High Court examined the appeal filed by a commercial company against the decision of the Court of Appeals.
In this decision, the court interpreted several provisions of the Civil Code related to the delay in the delivery of the item by the debtor and his obligation to compensate the damage suffered by the creditor. In the case of proven lost profit, this must be assessed based on the non-fulfillment of obligations by the defendant, taking into account the specific circumstances of the contract and the actions of the defendant. The court emphasizes that lost profit cannot be interpreted as a general and hypothetical value, but must be analyzed as a real profit that would have been realized under normal market conditions, during the period in which the defendant hindered the realization of this profit. This is because, according to the law, this profit must be real and based on factual circumstances, and not a potential profit linked to a promise (as is the case with the notarial declaration in this case), thereby imposing on the defendant the obligation to fulfill a contract he undertook.
In this case, the claimant’s request for lost profit for a 5-year period was not properly assessed by the courts of fact. The Chamber found that the courts should have analyzed more deeply the evidence and the time period related to the delay in the delivery of the item, and should have made a more careful assessment of the lost profit under real market conditions and the conduct of the debtor.
This interpretation of the law is important because it establishes a legal basis for claiming compensation for lost profit, as an element of the damage arising from the dispute regarding the performance of the contract.
