Berlin/Potsdam – Shot through a neighbor’s window with a soccer ball, got caught on a stranger’s car with the handlebars of a bicycle: when children become more mobile, there is a risk that they will accidentally cause harm to others – for example when playing or running around. Parents are often faced with the question: are the children or themselves responsible? The unsatisfactory answer: It depends.
“Up until the age of seven, children are generally not capable of committing a crime,” says lawyer Eva Becker. That is why they cannot be prosecuted either civilly or criminally for any damage they cause, says Becker, who is a board member and chair of the Family Law Committee of the German Bar Association.
According to the Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center, children can be held accountable for their actions from their seventh birthday onwards. However, this is only the case if it can be assumed that the child was mature enough at the time the damage occurred to assess the dangerous situation. If this is the case, they can generally be required to pay compensation or damages.
From the age of seven, children are responsible for their own actions
Eva Becker gives an example: An eight-year-old who handles an unknown, flammable liquid, which causes fire damage, may not be held liable under certain circumstances. An eleven-year-old who plays with paper and a lighter, on the other hand, is likely to be very aware of the danger that this poses. In the end, a court will certainly pay attention to such subtleties, says Becker.
The problem is that even if children can be assumed to have sufficient insight and possible claims against them exist, these cannot usually be enforced. The simple reason: adolescents are usually penniless. According to Becker, claims for damages can be asserted even years later because they only expire after 30 years. In practice, however, this rarely happens.
This is where parents come into play. They can also be held liable for damage caused by their children, according to the Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center. Claims against them are always enforceable if they have violated their duty of supervision.
Parents must exercise supervision
It is not possible to determine exactly when such a breach of duty of care has occurred and it always depends on the individual case. Courts have to take various criteria into account, says Becker: On the one hand, parents must of course look after their children and supervise them. On the other hand, there are also limits because parents are required to strengthen their child’s personal responsibility.
According to Eva Becker, the level of supervision required in the end depends on the child’s age, level of development and maturity. “This creates completely different requirements for a two- or three-year-old than for a 12- or 13-year-old,” says Becker.
For example, if a small child is peacefully baking a sand cake with friends on the playground, the lawyer says it is perfectly acceptable for parents to keep an eye on the situation from a bench, have a conversation, or even just turn away for a moment. If the child suddenly hits another child on the head with a shovel at such a moment, the court will come to the conclusion that the parents did everything within their power. “You can’t blame them for that; parents are not obliged to tie their children’s hands behind their backs,” says Becker.
However, it is not a good idea for a mother or father to go to the café around the corner for ten minutes in the same situation. This is because they then have no opportunity to intervene if dangerous developments arise – for example if the child moves from the sandpit to the climbing frame or runs out into the street in search of the parent.
Insurance covers some damages
If parents have family liability insurance, this can cover damage caused by their children to others. However, this policy only applies if there is legal liability, says Erik Schaarschmidt from the Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center. And that is only the case if the child is old enough and capable of understanding or if the parents have breached their duty of supervision.
In practice, however, according to Schaarschmidt, it is often the case that, for example, neighbors with whom one would like to continue to get along well are harmed. This is why parents often tend to take responsibility for things for which they and the child cannot actually be held accountable.
According to Schaarschmidt, some insurers have recognized this problem. That is why they have been offering coverage for such damage for several years now – sometimes as part of an extra tariff. “But this must be stated in the insurance terms and conditions,” says the consumer advocate.
