Vicarious Liability of Parents for Actions of Their Children Who Are Found to Be Delinquent

• NCJ Number: 103907
• Author(s): E Beckett
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 83 pages
• Corporate Author: Canada Solicitor General
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: Programs Branch User Report No. 1985-21

Annotation

This article discusses the constitutionality and utility of liability imposed on parents or guardians whose children are adjudged to be delinquent under Section 22 of Canada's Juvenile Delinquent Act.

Abstract

The paper reviews the Act's history, case law involving Section 22, and the status of parental liability in Canadian tort law. Statutes, case law, and literature on parental liability in the United States, England, Scotland, and New Zealand are surveyed. Section 22 may be unconstitutional: it appears to impose a civil remedy in a criminal statute and lacks due process because an order is made against a parent who is not charged with any offense. The appropriateness of punishing parents if their children are delinquent could also be questioned, although Section 33 of the Act establishes the offense of contributing to delinquency. Case law reveals that the courts have considered Section 22 three times but its use has been upheld only once by the Appeals Courts. Canadian legal literature tends to favor a due process model of adjudication and would probably not support Section 22. Liability imposed by Section 22 is much wider than the liability imposed by current tort principles. Excerpts from the Act, a chart of parent responsibility laws in the United States, and court rulings are appended. Footnotes.