Relevant Legal Provisions

Article 184 of the Civil Code：A person who, intentionally or negligently, unlawfully infringes upon the rights of another shall be liable for damages. The same applies where damage is caused to another intentionally in a manner contrary to public morals.

Facts and Reasons

The plaintiff (our client) and the defendant were involved in a separate case concerning a property held under a nominee arrangement. With our firm's assistance, the plaintiff successfully prevailed in that case, and the court ordered the defendant to return the property. However, the defendant continued to unlawfully occupy the property for more than two additional months. Upon regaining possession, the plaintiff discovered that the defendant had maliciously damaged a large amount of furniture inside the property, including cutting the electrical wiring of fans and destroying shower equipment, rendering most items unusable and effectively turning them into waste. The plaintiff initially attempted to dispose of the items through regular garbage collection, but was refused due to the excessive volume. As a result, the plaintiff had no choice but to engage a professional waste disposal company to remove the debris, thereby incurring property losses.

Judgment

The defendant shall compensate the plaintiff, with interest calculated at an annual rate of 5% from the date of payment until full satisfaction, and shall bear the litigation costs.

The facts asserted by the plaintiff are supported by documentary evidence, including the final judgment certificate, utility payment receipts, and waste disposal invoices. The defendant did not dispute these facts. Although the defendant argued that their attorney had negotiated with the plaintiff to allow the defendant to reside in the property rent-free until the end of August, this was denied by the plaintiff. Under the principle that a party asserting facts favorable to themselves bears the burden of proof, the defendant failed to provide evidence to substantiate this claim, and thus the defense is not credible.

Accordingly, the plaintiff's claim for damages based on tort liability is well-founded and shall be granted, and the litigation costs shall be borne by the losing defendant.

(Note: To protect the client's interests, certain case details and judgment images have been redacted and modified. For a full review of the case, please refer to  Judicial Yuan's judgment database)