Parents' liability for damage caused to third parties

Parents' liability for damage caused to third parties

Article 333 of the Civil Code makes the head of the family liable for damage caused by minors for whom he or she is responsible. This legal provision requires the head of the family to supervise certain people living in the home appropriately, in order to protect third parties from possible harm. Such liability is based on the objective breach of this duty of supervision, exposing the head of the family to liability for damages even if the lack of supervision is not subjectively attributable to him or her. Thus, when a minor causes damage to another person, the head of the family is presumed to be liable, unless he or she can prove that he or she did not fail to exercise due care. The severity of this rule is explained by the authority that the head of the family is supposed to have and by the duty of education that falls to him or her because of the risk that minors left to their own devices may represent. However, the general conditions laid down by the law for recognising liability must be met, i.e. there must be harm and a causal link not only between the harm and the head of the family's lack of supervision, but also between the harm and the unlawful act committed by the minor. That said, as you will have understood, once the causal link between the harm and the unlawful act has been established, the law presumes a causal link with the breach of the duty to supervise. In the event of a dispute, you will therefore need to be able to show that you had strictly supervised your son and that his apparently unsupervised presence in your neighbour's garage constitutes disobedience on his part that you could not have expected. In your discussions with your neighbour, you will also need to establish the nature and extent of the damage that occurred in order to calculate what you can be held responsible for, and to clarify why his own children and your son were in his garage, in order to determine whether he too bears some responsibility for the events that occurred.