In the event of injury or disfigurement (temporary or permanent) resulting from a road traffic accident, the injured party is entitled to compensation which, with proper documentation (technical or medical expert reports, etc.) and sound legal argumentation, may reach substantial amounts.
According to Article 931 of the Greek Civil Code, “any disability or disfigurement caused to the injured party shall be taken into special consideration when awarding compensation, if it affects their future.” “Disability” is understood as any impairment of a person’s physical, intellectual, or mental integrity, while “disfigurement” refers to any significant alteration of a person’s external appearance, assessed not strictly by medical standards but in accordance with everyday social perceptions. Furthermore, “future” encompasses the professional, financial, and social development of the individual. A certainty of adverse impact on the injured party’s future is not required; even a reasonable probability, according to the ordinary course of events, is sufficient.
In professional and economic contexts, disability or disfigurement, according to common experience, constitutes a disadvantage in competition and career development. These adverse consequences are more pronounced during economic hardship and in times of limited employment opportunities. Individuals affected by disability or disfigurement are at a higher risk of unemployment compared with their healthy peers.
Article 931 allows courts to award a monetary amount to an injured party suffering disability or disfigurement, insofar as it affects their future. This award does not constitute compensation in the strict sense, as compensation conceptually requires the demonstration of pecuniary loss—that is, the difference between the injured party’s financial situation after the harmful event and what it would have been otherwise. Additionally, incapacity for work caused by disability or disfigurement, to the extent that it generates financial loss, provides a basis for a claim under Article 929 of the Civil Code (claim for lost income). However, disability or disfigurement alone does not automatically entail financial loss.
For example, a minor who has not yet entered the workforce cannot claim pecuniary loss at the time the disability or disfigurement occurs. While it is not possible to predict specific pecuniary loss, it is certain that disability or disfigurement—depending on its severity and other circumstances (age, gender, personal inclinations, and aspirations)—will negatively affect the individual’s economic development, albeit in a manner that cannot be precisely quantified. This adverse effect is considered inherent and does not require detailed specification of its exact consequences for the injured party’s socio-economic future.
The primary consideration is the existence of disability or disfigurement as an impairment of the person’s body or health—an autonomous legal interest protected under paragraphs 3 and 6 of Article 21 of the Constitution, both in relations between citizens and the State and among private individuals. This protection does not depend on an inability to obtain economic benefits.
Thus, the correct interpretation of Article 931 is that it permits awarding a reasonable monetary amount to an injured party suffering disability or disfigurement solely on account of the condition, without reference to specific pecuniary loss, which may be impossible to determine. The amount is primarily based on the nature and consequences of the disability or disfigurement and the injured party’s age.
It is clear that claims under Article 931 are distinct:
(a) from claims under Article 929 for lost income, which require proof of specific pecuniary damage due to incapacity for work, and
(b) from monetary compensation for moral harm under Article 932.
All of these claims can be pursued either cumulatively or separately, as they constitute independent legal claims, and establishing one does not necessarily require the existence of any of the others.
