Article 1073 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulates the mechanism for imposing an obligation to compensate for damage that was caused by a person under the age of 14, and has 4 points.
In paragraph 1, the legislator stipulates that the damage that was caused to a person under 14 years of age must be compensated by his parents, adoptive parents or guardians in case they cannot prove that the damage arose not through their fault.
Clause 2 establishes the responsibility of organizations that provide professional care and supervision of children. If their pupils under the age of 14 have caused damage to the property or health of other citizens, the organization will be responsible for this with their property if they cannot prove their innocence.
Clause 3, like clause 2, establishes the responsibility of the personnel of educational, medical and other similar organizations, under whose supervision a minor under 14 years of age is temporarily at the time of the commission of the crime.
Clause 4 states that the obligation to indemnify in all the above cases may be terminated only by a court decision in the event of clearly defined circumstances, which will be considered later.
Provisions (similar to Article 1073) in Art. 1076 of the Civil Code are also designated. There we are talking about similar situations involving the incompetent. Thus, the law equalizes the legally incompetent and minors under 14, characterizing them as non-legally incapable, that is, incapable of answering independently for their actions.
What's new?
If we compare the content of the Civil Code of 1964, we can see that Art. 1073 of the Civil Code partially repeats it, but also includes several innovations.
The most important of them is that, in the event of some circumstances, the minor harm-doer under the age of 14 can still be held responsible for what he has done, that is, become the subject of liability.
The next change concerns the recognition of persons as minors. If earlier it was the age of fifteen, now it is reduced to fourteen. Citizens under the age of 14 years are considered to be undeliverable and are not responsible for the committed acts.
Who can be held responsible
The court by its decision may oblige to indemnify:
- citizens - legal representatives of a minor, as well as institutions capable of performing the functions of guardians in accordance with Art. 35 Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
- institutions or persons obligated to supervise a minor at the time of the offense (this group includes various educational, educational, medical organizations).
A prerequisite for recognizing a citizen or organization as responsible for causing harm to a person under 14 years old is the existence of a causal link between their improper exposure to the child and the behavior of the minor who caused the damage.
If parents are responsible for the minor
It does not matter for the court whether the parents of a minor offender are married or living separately, they are jointly responsible for the actions of their child, according to Art. 321 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (principle of equal shared responsibility). There is the only exception in accordance with paragraph 15 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 3: if the parent does not participate in the upbringing of the child through the fault of another parent, then he can be released from liability. But this fact should also be supported by strong arguments.
The guilt of legal representatives, entailing responsibility for the actions of minors under 14 years of age, is in each case individual and peculiar. This may be the lack of proper upbringing and control over the child, negligent attitude to participation in the life of a minor, abuse of their rights, if these actions (or inaction) resulted in actions, behavior of the child who caused the harm.
In unison with Art.1073, Art. 1075 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that even parents deprived of a parental right to their child by a court decision can be found guilty that their child committed an illegal act (even if they were already deprived of parental rights at the time of the act). The term for the possibility of such liability is 3 years after the deprivation of rights to the child. If their guilt is proved, then they will be charged with the standard obligation to compensate the victims.
If legal entities are liable for a minor
In paragraph 3 of Art. 1073 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the concept of institutions and citizens who are obliged to control the pastime and behavior of minors under 14 years of age due to their professional specialization is disclosed. This includes, for example, health camps, hospitals, boarding schools, private individuals working under an agreement on the upbringing or education of a child. Their responsibility is even more serious, as they are responsible for other people's children. If on their part there is no quality supervision ensuring the safety of the child and others, they will be deemed obligated to be liable for damage caused by a minor under 14 years of age, which was under their control.
Joint responsibility of several entities
An interesting fact is that it is possible to simultaneously bring to justice both the legal representatives of the minor and the persons who supervise them. If it is proved in court that the harm was caused as a result of connivance or improper performance of duties by both parents (or guardians) and persons obliged to control the child, then the obligation will be distributed according to the principle of shared responsibility in proportion to the degree of guilt of each of the parties.
The principle of shared responsibility is also applicable to juvenile inflicters of harm. If there were several, then the compensation for damage caused is distributed to their legal representatives.
Is it possible to terminate the obligation?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to relieve oneself of the obligation to indemnify victims of the actions of a minor, even after the onset of his full legal capacity. This is prohibited because parents or other legal representatives are responsible for their own guilt, not for the guilt of a minor. For the same reason, the requirement for a juvenile offender to return the amounts lost through his fault is unacceptable.
Assignment of responsibility to a minor cause of damage
The difference in the application of punishments to different subjects of responsibility still exists.
If the legal entity bears the obligation to indemnify for damage caused by a person under 14 years of age, then it will not be possible to blame the inflicter of harm even upon reaching legal capacity.
If parents or other citizens are found guilty, and the offender has reached full legal capacity, then, in the event of certain circumstances, he can independently be responsible for the harm caused earlier. These circumstances are indicated in paragraph 4 of Art. 1073 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: death of persons obliged to compensate for the damage, their lack of funds to compensate for the damage, possession of such funds by the harm-taker himself.
A victim or a citizen who may be liable for the actions of a minor and does not have the means to fulfill his duty may appeal to a court. And the former minor, in turn, achieved full legal capacity.
When considering a case, the court may oblige to compensate the damage either to the inflicter of harm in full, or together with its legal representative on the principle of shared responsibility.
How will the court decide
If you analyze Art. 1073 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with comments and numerous lawsuits, you can form an overall picture, see which side the courts in most cases take. It is known that in Russia many laws simply do not work, existing only on paper. Art. 1073 of the Civil Code does not apply to such. It completely correlates with the realities of life and finds application in legal practice.
Judicial practice under Art. 1073 of the Civil Code is not uncommon. For example, if the harm is caused to students, then most often the responsibility lies with the educational organization, which was obliged to control the child, even if the child caused harm to himself. This is also the case in the case of the responsibility of parents or guardians. The very meaning of the institution of the family is that parents are responsible for the upbringing, behavior and actions of their children. Accordingly, if children consider it possible to cause damage to the property or health of other people, but they themselves are not yet able to answer before the court and the law, then this is done by their representatives who raised them like that.