2. Parents as defendants
Parents may be defendants in negligence where, judged by the standard of a reasonably careful parent, their acts or omissions foreseeably cause harm to their children or others.
Duty owed to children and standard of care
In claims concerning injury to a child, the law may in appropriate circumstances recognize parental negligence based on a failure to take reasonable care for the child’s safety. However, the duty and standard of care are fact-sensitive and should not be stated as an unlimited general duty to guarantee the child’s welfare.
The standard expected is that of a “reasonably careful parent”. However, this is an objective standard that must be considered in the light of domestic circumstances.
A parent may also, in some cases, be expected to take reasonable steps to protect a child who has already been injured from further harm. However, the law does not require parents to secure the best possible medical treatment in every case, and a child generally cannot sue their parents for negligent decisions about the child’s medical treatment.
Responsibility for the conduct of children
It is a common misconception that parents are automatically responsible for the negligent acts of their children. Under the common law, there is no general duty arising simply from parenthood to prevent a child from causing damage to third parties and parents are not vicariously liable for their children’s torts.
A parent can only be held liable in negligence if he, having regard to the child’s age, characteristics and the foreseeability of harm, failed to exercise a reasonable degree of supervision and control so as to avoid conduct that exposed others to unreasonable danger. For example, a parent may be liable to the victim if he negligently leaves a dangerous object, such as a gun, where his child can get hold of it and the child then injures someone. However, the law does not require a parent to keep a well-behaved child under constant supervision.
