Cour de Cassation (Belgique), 2 septembre 2004 - Honoraires et frais d’avocats et conseil technique à cause de dommages contractuels à indemniser - European Review of Private Law View Cour de Cassation (Belgique), 2 septembre 2004 - Honoraires et frais d’avocats et conseil technique à cause de dommages contractuels à indemniser by - European Review of Private Law Cour de Cassation (Belgique), 2 septembre 2004 - Honoraires et frais d’avocats et conseil technique à cause de dommages contractuels à indemniser 13 5

In this judgment, the Cour de cassation held that the legal fees and expenses of a lawyer or of a technical expert to which the victim of a contractual fault is exposed may constitute an element of damage that may give rise to compensation. These expenses are an element of the damage because they are made necessary by the non-performance of the agreement. In this particular (and most likely exceptional) case, it was clear that the legal statutory reimbursement which comprises the procedural indemnities (of first instance and of appeal) must be considered completely insufficient; moreover, in this case, considering the complexity of the cause, it must be admitted that an amount of expenses and fees (exceeding the allowances for procedure) forms an integral part of the damages suffered by defendants in the relationship between necessary causality and the faults made by applicants.

European Review of Private Law