CIVIL LIABILITY AS A TOOL FOR PROTECTING THE AUTONOMY OF OLDER PERSONS AND THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY

Abstract

This article analyzes civil liability as a legal instrument for safeguarding the private autonomy of the elderly, in light of the right to the free development of personality and the principle of human dignity. It begins with an understanding of freedom as a personality right and as an essential condition for existential self-determination, to investigate the legitimate limits of autonomy of will in contemporary business relationships. The central issue is to identify to what extent civil liability can act as a mechanism for protecting the self-determination of older adults in contexts marked by vulnerability, without resorting to paternalistic solutions or undue restrictions on contractual freedom. It is considered that, although formally capable, older adults frequently enter into contracts in asymmetrical environments, in which informational, economic, or cognitive factors compromise the free and informed formation of consent. The study employs a deductive method, adopting a theoretical, dogmatic, and interdisciplinary approach that integrates philosophical, constitutional, and civil law principles, particularly through a reinterpretation of private autonomy from the perspective of personality rights. It is concluded that civil liability, guided by objective good faith and the social function of the contract, serves not only a reparatory function but also a preventive and promotional function in maintaining contractual balance, proving to be an appropriate instrument for the realization of human dignity and for the effective free development of the elderly person’s personality in private relationships.