Article 296

What it means when you sign

This article makes void any condition that aims to exempt a person from liability arising from a harmful act. It is a single short rule: such a condition has no effect.

When you are about to sign a contract, this article means that a clause saying one party will not be responsible for harm it causes may be void. That includes broad exclusions such as a statement that a party accepts no liability for any damage, loss or injury arising from its acts. The article speaks of liability arising from a harmful act, so the clauses to look at are the exclusion of liability, disclaimer and indemnity clauses, and wording like not responsible for any loss. A clause that tries to remove responsibility for harm caused by one's own act may run into this article, whatever heading it appears under in the contract. It is worth reading these clauses closely, since the contract may still contain them even though they may have no effect.