Legal responsibility operates under a basic idea: when a wrongful act is committed, the legitimate possibility of imposing a legal sanction to the person responsible is opened up. Being tort liability a type of legal liability, the aforementioned basic rule is applicable to it and it is a necessary condition to understand in which cases a civil penalty is appropriate. Traditionally, civil penalties are imposed when an illegal act causes injury to another person. However, in tort liability jurisprudence, some argue that civil penalties can also be imposed when different factual circumstances to the occurrence of damage as a result of an unlawful act are verified.