In French law, an award of damages is a means to enforce human rights, such that the breach of such a right urges the payment of compensation. This situation is reinforced by the fact that the European Court of Human Rights alone has the means to ensure the protection of the rights guaranteed by the European Convention. Moreover, a strong debate has occurred on whether to consider the right to obtain compensation in the form of damages as a fundamental right or a human right. This phenomenon, which may be called ‘fundamentalisation’ (in French: ‘fondamentalisation’) of compensation is the primary focus of this article.