Alcance de la responsabilidad de los padres por los daños causados por sus hijos menores

Abstract

he civil liability of parents for damages caused by their children is regulated in the Civil Code and in the Organic Law on Juvenile Criminal Liability, according to the civil or criminal nature of the action that causes the damage, being the general rule that parents are directly responsible for damages caused by children who are under their care, by their own fault in vigilando (monitor duty), regardless of the fault of the minor. It is a liability for the actions of others, quasi-objective, there being a presumption of guilt on the part of the parents that is justified by the assumption that the action of the minor is a result of the failure of his/her parents to exercise the monitor duty in a correct manner; it is a several liability in the event of several responsible parties. There are many cases, and there is a variety of casuistry, of claims for damages caused by minors, it being essential to determine the specific circumstances in which this occurs, and the action taken by the minor; most of the judgements agree that the liability of the parents can only be exonerated if they prove that they exercised the due diligence based on the «prudent-man» principle to avoid the damage. The assumptions of separated parents, when the damage is caused in the course of habitual and innocuous games, the guilt of the victim himself/herself, the unforeseen or inevitable assumptions, or the liabilities of the educational institutions or insurance companies qualify this liability of the parents, moderating it or excluding it in some assumptions.