The General Ground of Tort Liability
Tort-based compensation is the route to compensating damage that does not rest on a contract: the harm was caused by an act, and the law demands an answer from its author. Article 992 of the Civil Code of Georgia is the general norm: a person who causes damage to another person by an unlawful, intentional or negligent act is obliged to compensate that damage. The formulation unites three elements — the unlawfulness of the act, fault (intent or negligence) and the consequence in the form of damage — and each of them is a necessary pillar of the claim.
Distinguishing tort from contractual liability is of practical importance: a tort claim operates where no contractual bond exists between the parties or the damage exceeds the framework of the contract. On this page we explain the general tort, the damage caused by the dissemination of false statements, the claims arising on the victim's death, and the limitation period.
Damage Caused by the Dissemination of False Statements
Article 993 regulates a separate composition: a person who intentionally or negligently disseminates or publicizes facts damaging to another person's property shall compensate the damage arising therefrom, if those facts are clearly incorrect. Reputational harm that grows into a concrete pecuniary loss — a lost contract, reduced turnover, a more expensive loan — is compensated precisely under this norm.
The same article contains an important boundary for the defense: no obligation to compensate damage arises from statements serving the protection of lawful public interests. Thus the lawful defense of a public interest — for example, telling the truth about improper conduct — generates no liability. Crossing that boundary — when a statement under the mask of public interest spreads clearly false facts — gives the injured party the right to claim.
Claims Arising on the Victim's Death
The gravest case is regulated by Article 1006: on the death of the victim, the person who caused the damage must compensate, by establishing maintenance, the damage to the persons whose maintenance was the victim's duty. This obligation lasts as long as the victim would have been obliged to pay maintenance. The function of the income lost through death is thus continued by the law in the form of maintenance — for those tied to the deceased's support.
Instead of maintenance, the victim — in the context of this norm, the carriers of the claim — may demand a one-time compensation, where a significant ground for it exists. The one-time form is a practical instrument: a single sum instead of periodic payments often satisfies a family's needs more effectively, though its appropriateness is measured in each case by the significance of the ground.