A Research On The Responsibility In The Tort By A Juvenile

From the General Rule of the Civil Law to the Tort Liability Law, the rulesfor torts by a juvenile have slightly changed. Both the juvenile and his guardianmay assume the liability, the liability of juvenile who has his own property is inthe first place, if the juvenile has no property or his property cannot make up allthe damages, then his guardian will take the additional liability. The rules domake some sense, but also have caused some conflicts. Firstly, the law makesa juvenile assume liability regardless of fault but for his property and usecapacity of civil conduct to take the place of capacity of liability, but on thepremise of personal liability, property can only matter the performance ofliability, not the judging of liability, judging the liability of the juvenile by hisproperty makes the principle of contributory negligence not be applied,capacity of civil conduct and capacity of liability have lots of difference, one can not replace the other; secondly, the law is too indulge to the guardian bydischarging the liability of the guardian because the juvenile has his ownproperty, and the law is too sever to the guardian by forcing the guardian toassume the strict liability even though he has completely fulfilled his obligationbecause the juvenile has no or no enough property, in a word, the liability ofthe guardian is determined by the property status of the juvenile but not hisown fault. I think the capacity for liability and the fault of the juvenile should beconsidered to decide his liability, and if the guardian has fulfilled his obligation,then he should be discharged. Capacity of liability not only helps to protect theproperty of the juvenile without capacity, but also helps to make the juvenilewith capacity turn over a new life by punishment. Guardian’s liability based onfault impels him to do the best to comply with his duty, strict standers forguardian’s obligation make sure the damages caused by a juvenile fullycompensated.