Civil liability for elderly abandonment and the duty to indemnify

Abstract

This research aims to analyze civil liability for the emotional abandonment of elderly people specifically caused by abandonment by family members who should guarantee all their rights. The specific objectives address the legislative protection of the elderly, with special action by the Public Prosecutor's Office in protecting their rights; list the guarantee of the rights of elderly people in the Elderly Persons Statute; identify civil liability and the duty to indemnify the relevant legislation; and, finally, the reverse emotional abandonment and the possibility of civil liability on the part of the children. The methodology is qualitative through the deductive method, by reading and subsequently recording doctrinal works and scientific articles, as well as by document analysis in normative codes, especially the Federal Constitution and the Statute of the Elderly. It is concluded that there are still no judicial decisions that grant the right to compensation for moral damages resulting from the emotional abandonment of an elderly person, only decisions that recognize civil liability for paternal-filial emotional abandonment. Scholars argue that both forms of emotional abandonment deserve the same recognition of civil liability. Furthermore, there is a judicial impasse regarding when affection is characterized as a principle and when it is just a legal value. The greatest possibility of compensation for moral damages is through the approval of Bill no. 4294/08.