Key Scientific Ideas and Proposals.
The conference paper examines the legal grounds for compensation for damage caused by the use of the results of independent professional expertise in the form of conformity assessment or other professional activities. Contractual, tort-based, and comprehensive approaches to determining the legal nature of the liability of entities engaged in independent professional activities are considered. The comprehensive nature of the legal grounds giving rise to the obligation to compensate for damage is substantiated, combining the general provisions of civil law with special rules establishing standards of professional conduct and requirements concerning experts’ competence, independence, and good faith. It is established that legal significance attaches not to the mere existence of an erroneous expert opinion or another result of professional activity, but to its use in making a legally significant decision that has resulted in adverse pecuniary or non-pecuniary consequences. Particular importance is attributed to establishing a causal link between the result of professional activity and the damage caused, as well as to the appropriate allocation of liability among the participants in the relevant legal relationships. It is concluded that a comprehensive approach to the legal regulation of professional liability makes it possible to ensure effective protection of injured parties while preventing professional activity from becoming an area of unlimited risk for those engaged in it.
