Who is legally responsible for an assault inside a disco?
The fights of discos and bars are many times as we can see in an old movie, uncontrollable. But does it exempt the local and its administration from fault? Could the manager of a nightclub simply argue that the issue got out of hand? Against whom should the victim of assault in a nightclub file the claim or claim?
We will answer these questions clearly, based on an event that occurred in a discotheque in Madrid and the decisions taken by the administration of justice in this regard.
Who is legally responsible for the aggression?
The facts were as they usually appear in this type of premises, a very strong aggression where the victim was severely injured. For this reason, he decided to file a civil suit against both the author of the attack and the legal entity that manages and manages the club.
The claim was clearly aimed at compensation for injuries as well as the consequences suffered. The person attacked obviously advised himself and once demanded much more than medical expenses.
Judgment against the author of the aggression
The claim was admitted immediately and the Court of First Instance number 50 of Madrid issued a ruling in favor of the victim. However, this court decided to omit some type of sentence against the administration of the premises, dismissing the lawsuit filed against the management company of the same.
The perpetrator, on the other hand, was considered guilty and forced to compensate the victim with a payment of 25,881.24 euros.
Second sentence: Against the author and the management company administrator of the premises
But the victim, surely advised by legal professionals in these or other related matters, decided to appeal the decision and take his case to the Ninth Provincial Court of Madrid.
As soon as the appeal was legally accepted and the case was known, the Provincial Court decided in favor of the injured party, but this time forcing compensation that reached 60,000 euros, to cover both the aggressor and the administration of the club.
The reasoning of the court was to force the joint payment of both parties, the person directly responsible for the assault / action against the victim and the administration of the discotheque by omission, since it does not have adequate security measures that could prevent or in any case immediately stop this type of events.
In this regard, the argument on which the conviction is supported is:
- Duration of the aggression
Thanks to the study of the case it was determined that the aggression, described as "brutal" by the courts, lasted at least a minute. While the victim was beaten no member or security personnel of the nightclub approached, which shows that they do not guarantee the safety of their clients against this type of events.
Only when a friend of the victim went to where the doormen were, did they appear to stop the aggression. From this it follows that, if that friend did not act, the aggression could reach much more.
- Predictability
The court based this element not on the direct action against the injured party, as if he could guess that someone would attack him directly. It is about the day the event occurred.
The celebration of New Year's Eve is a moment that for these places always entails or should lead to a special security device, to constant checks in every corner of the premises because any type of confrontation or problem is expected, whether mild or serious is something that is usually occur so, if the premises did not take effective measures to prevent or at least attack these kinds of events soon, it also adds to the responsibility.
What to do if I am the victim?
If you are in this type of premises and you suffer an aggression, the most important thing is to act soon.
Contact a law firm with expert professionals in various areas, no matter what state you are in, whether or not you have consumed much alcohol, lawyers will understand that action should be taken soon, both to make the facts sit down that same day if possible visiting the premises, as for the medical purpose necessary to support the injuries suffered.
With the exception of those cases in which your life is at risk or the situation could get much worse if you do not attend immediately, you should concentrate on obtaining a medical part and specifying the causes of the injuries, since in the medical center you will also obtain an endorsement of your income. , the damages you have received and the place and circumstances in which they occurred.
Another evidentiary element that could be demanded by the courts that are aware of the cause are the security recordings, usually the discotheques have some and if it is the case, the tapes will be recorded in a crude way the aggression, which, in terms of a case presented before courts, is a valuable extra for the defense of the victim or the aggressor or the local defendant.
What legal resources can the local administration initiate to defend itself?
In fact, the defense will have something hard before a case of this type and perhaps the only element that could be of weight for his defense would be that the recording can be noted that the victim initiated the lawsuit. OR
n element of this type would reduce the force of the demand, the nightclub is still responsible for security in the internal space, but the demand of a victim does not have the same force before the courts as that of the aggressor.
The most advisable for any place of this type is not to wait for these problems to occur to acquire a civil liability insurance, although they are not exactly economic policies for this type of premises, in these cases they will be able to verify the necessity and advantages of having one.
In the case of Madrid were 60,000 euros to pay between the aggressor and the nightclub, perhaps it is not something that the aggressor could avoid, but with insurance the place would not have the economic impact that was the demand for them.
