There is no provision saying “damages of such an amount are payable for infringement of personality rights through the press”. The amount of non-pecuniary damages is for the judge. What the Law regulates is not the amount but who is liable and what may be claimed.
The basis of non-pecuniary damages: Article 58
Code of Obligations No. 6098, Article 58: “A person suffering loss from the injury of a personality right may claim the payment of a sum of money by way of non-pecuniary damages for the non-pecuniary loss suffered. The judge may, instead of payment of such damages, determine another form of redress or add it to those damages; in particular the judge may give a decision condemning the attack and order that decision to be published.”
The second sentence matters: money is not the only tool available to the judge. In some files ordering publication of a decision condemning the attack is a heavier outcome than a payment.
What may be claimed: Article 25 of the Civil Code
Alongside damages a claimant may seek:
- Prevention of the threat of an attack
- Cessation of a continuing attack
- A declaration of the unlawfulness of an attack whose effects continue, even if it has ended
- Notification of the correction or of the judgment to third parties or its publication
- Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages
- Delivery of the profit obtained through the unlawful attack, under the provisions on agency without authority
Who is liable: Article 13 of Law No. 5187
“For pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage arising from acts committed through printed works or online news sites, in periodicals the author of the work together with the owner of the publication and their representative, if any, and in non-periodical publications the author of the work together with the publisher, or where the publisher is not known the printer, shall be jointly and severally liable.”
| Type of publication | Those liable |
|---|---|
| Periodical (newspaper, magazine, online news site) | Author of the work + owner of the publication + representative, if any |
| Non-periodical publication (a book and the like) | Author of the work + publisher; where the publisher is not known, the printer |
| Where the legal person is a company | Chair of the board in a joint stock company, the most senior manager in other companies, together with the company |
Article 13(2) widens the scope: the provision “shall also apply to natural or legal persons who, in periodical or non-periodical publications, are the owner of the publication, the owner of the trade mark or licence, the lessor, the operator or who publish in any capacity or act as publisher”.
Transfer is not an escape route
Article 13(3): where, after the act giving rise to the damage, the publication is transferred in any manner, merged with another publication, or the natural or legal person owning it changes in any manner, those who take over the publication, merge with it or act in any capacity as owner — together with the chair of the board in joint stock companies and the senior manager in other companies — are jointly and severally liable for the damages awarded, along with those named in the first and second paragraphs.
The test of unlawfulness
The precondition of an award is unlawfulness. Article 24/2 of the Civil Code: “Unless justified by the consent of the person whose personality right is injured, by a superior private or public interest or by the exercise of a power conferred by law, every attack on personality rights is unlawful.”
The ground journalism relies on is public interest. Its strength depends on the accuracy of the story and the care taken — which is why documenting the verification trail matters.
What determines the amount
The Law lists no criteria; in practice a judge’s discretion takes account of the economic and social circumstances of the parties, the gravity of the infringement, the reach and impact of the publication and the degree of fault. No figure can be given; each file is assessed on its own facts.
Venue and limitation
Article 25(5) of the Civil Code: “A claimant may bring an action for the protection of personality rights in the court of their own domicile or that of the defendant.”
Article 72 of Law No. 6098: a claim for compensation is barred on the expiry of two years from the date the injured party became aware of the damage and of the person liable, and in any event ten years from the date of the act.
Limitation is covered in the limitation guide and the identity of the defendant in the defendant guide.