A View on Compensation for Physical Injuries: With a Comparative Study Approach in Law of Islam, Iran, France and England

Abstract

Bodily damage is one of the damages in the realm of civil liability. Compensation is considered to be one of the main features of philosophy of being of tort law. Physical damage includes any kind of diya (financial compensation)or arsh (the compensation specified in Islamic law to be paid to the victim or his heirs) caused by any kind of damage to the body such as fractures, defects and disability of the organ, whether partial or general - temporary or permanent, diya of death and treatment costs. It appears that legal systems have different approaches toward the issue and follow different principles for compensable damages. According to the findings of this article –that is conducted in a descriptive-analytic-comparative method- the principle in Iranian and French law is full compensation for these damages. In English law, the purpose of civil liability is not to compensate all damages and for all persons and the courts try to limit the civil liability to compensation of certain damages for certain individuals. In Islamic law, acceptance a principle as to the necessity of compensation for all damages and the expansion of the scope of compensable losses does not contradict the holy law of Islam. However, it cannot be claimed with certainty that it is necessary to accept the principle of compensation for all damages in Islamic jurisprudence.

Keywords

• physical damage
• compensability
• the principle of full payment of damages؛ physical harm