An eventful evening

An eventful evening

 "Drunk after a party, my 23-year-old daughter ordered a taxi home. During the journey, she threw up in the vehicle. Although I cleaned the car, the taxi driver is demanding CHF 500 and wants to press charges. What exactly is she exposed to? " Ben, Geneva

Defilement of a vehicle belonging to another person may render the perpetrator liable under both civil and criminal law. While the aim of criminal law is to punish behaviour that is punishable by law, civil law provides a means of obtaining compensation for damage. These two areas therefore frequently overlap.

In this case, Article 144 of the Criminal Code (CC) punishes damage to property, i.e. the act of damaging, destroying or putting out of use something belonging to someone else, with a custodial sentence or a pecuniary penalty. The law does not, however, require concrete property damage, and the damage may only be temporary. If the person responsible for the damage repairs it, the judicial authority may waive prosecution. It should be noted that if the culprit is under the influence of alcohol, his or her criminal liability may be reduced.

In civil law, a person may be required to compensate for damage caused either because he or she has breached a contract, for example a contract of carriage with a taxi company whose terms and conditions provide for compensation in the event of damage to the vehicle, or because he or she has committed an unlawful act, for example by breaching another rule of civil law or a rule of the Criminal Code such as that mentioned above.

Article 41 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) expressly states that everyone is obliged to make good any damage that they cause to others in an unlawful manner, whether intentionally, negligently or recklessly. The cost of cleaning a car soiled by faeces typically constitutes damage that must be reimbursed. It should be noted that, under Article 54 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, even a person who is temporarily incapable of judgement, such as a drunkard, is obliged to compensate for such damage.

The fact that the damage committed by your adult daughter was eventually repaired by you on her behalf will have no bearing on the assessment of her fault under criminal law, but it may play a role under civil law in the calculation of damages if you have removed all traces of the damage. You will have understood, however, that if any stains or odours remain, the taxi driver will be entitled either to present the lady with the bill for cleaning, or to demand, for example, a lump-sum payment under the general terms and conditions that she tacitly accepted when she got into the taxi for what was admittedly a somewhat hectic journey.