A Railway Crossing Accident: The Legal Picture
An accident at a railway crossing is a multi-party dispute: it may simultaneously involve the owner of the means of transport, its employee, and the state or municipal structure responsible for the condition of the crossing. It must be said plainly at the outset: the special claim regime for railway workers that exists in other jurisdictions does not exist in Georgia. The victim's route is the ordinary tort claim, while the field of labour safety is regulated by separate legislation. The Civil Code gives three anchor norms for this dispute: compensation of damage arising from the operation, compensation of damage caused by state and public servants, and the employer's liability for the acts of its employee.
Damage Arising from the Operation of a Means of Transport
The central norm is Article 999 of the Civil Code: the owner of a means of transport intended for the carriage of passengers and goods, where the operation of that means of transport is followed by the death, mutilation or impairment of a person's health, or damage to a thing, is obliged to compensate the victim for the damage arising therefrom. In the railway case this means that damage connected with the operation of the rolling stock falls within the scope of the owner's liability.
The exceptions are also defined: the obligation does not apply where the cargo being transported is damaged, except where the passenger carries it along, and where a thing accepted by the owner for safekeeping is damaged. Likewise, liability does not apply in cases of force majeure, except for aviation transport. Finally, where a person uses a means of transport without the owner's permission, that person must compensate the damage in the owner's stead, though the owner answers if the use became possible due to the owner's fault.
The Condition of the Crossing: State Liability
The condition of the crossing is often the true core of the dispute: signalling, marking, visibility. Here Article 1005 of the Civil Code operates: where a state servant or public servant, intentionally or with gross negligence, breaches their official duty towards another person, the state, the municipality or the organ in which that servant works is obliged to compensate the damage inflicted. In cases of intent or gross negligence, the servant themselves answers together with the state, in solidarity. At the same time, no obligation to compensate arises where the victim intentionally or with gross negligence did not attempt to avoid the damage by lawful means.