1001. Damages are not due for non-fulfilment of an obligation until there has been default under some one of the provisions of the preceding section. But he who does what he is bound not to do incurs by the mere doing liability to damages, and is thus deemed to be in default.
1002. The debtor, though in good faith, is liable to damages in all cases in which he fails to establish that the non-fulfilment of an obligation proceeds from a cause which cannot be imputed to him or her.
1003. The debtor is not liable to damages when the non-fulfilment of an obligation is caused by a fortuitous event or by irresistible force, without any fault on his part, unless, by the special terms of the contract, he is liable, notwithstanding the occurrence of these contingencies.
1004. The damages due to the creditor are in general the amount of the loss that he has sustained and of the profit of which he has been deprived; subject to the exceptions and modifications contained in the following articles of this section.
1005. The debtor is liable only for the damages which have been foreseen or might have been foreseen at the time of contracting the obligation, when his or her non-fulfilment of it is not accompanied by fraud.
1006. Even in the case in which the non-fulfilment of an obligation results from the fraud of the debtor, the damages are measured only by the immediate and direct consequence of the non-fulfilment.
1007. When it is stipulated that a certain sum shall be paid for damages for the non-fulfilment of an obligation, the Court, in its discretion, may reduce the amount in case of partial fulfilment or where the full amount is wholly disproportionate to the injury.
1008. The damages resulting from delay in the payment of money, to which the debtor is liable, consist only of interest at the rate legally agreed upon by the parties, or, in the absence of such agreement, at the rate fixed by law.
These damages are due without the creditor being obliged to prove any loss. They are due from the day of the default only, except where, from the nature of the obligation, the law otherwise provides.
This article does not affect the special rules applicable to bills of exchange and contracts of suretyship.
1009. Interest accrued from capital sums also bears interest:
1. When there is a special agreement to that effect;
2. When in any action brought such interest is specially demanded;
3. When a tutor has received or ought to have received interest upon the monies of his or her pupil and has failed to invest it within the term prescribed by law.
1009A. In any proceedings tried in any Court for the recovery of any debt or damages, the Court may, if it thinks fit, order that there shall be included in the sum for which judgment is given interest at such rate as it thinks fit on the whole or any part of the debt or damages for the whole or any part of the period between the date when the cause of action arose and the date of the judgment:
Provided that nothing in this article—
(a) shall authorise the giving of interest upon interest, except in the cases mentioned in article 1009; or
(b) shall apply in relation to any debt upon which interest is payable as of right whether by virtue of any agreement or otherwise; or
(c) shall affect the damages recoverable for the dishonour of a bill of exchange. (Added by Act 34 of 1956)