Legal penalty interests in case of tort liability. Decision no. 1798/2023 of The Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice

Abstract

The present study analyzes Decision no. 1798/2023 of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, having as its main object the plaintiff’s claim to obtain legal penalty interests applied to compensation established in a different tortious civil liability process. The problem that arose was to determine the start date of the penalties: is it the date the court is invested with the tortious liability action or the date of the final decision? The discussion is relevant, given that due to practical inertia sometimes the courts oblige the tortfeasor to pay penal legal interest from the date the court is invested until the payment is concluded. Is the latter a correct solution? We will try to answer this question by analyzing the state of the facts, the court’s solution and presenting our own view regarding the problem.