LEGAL NATURE OF THE SUBSIDIARY OBLIGATION OF PARENTS (ADOPTIVE PARENTS) OR GUARDIANS REGARDING COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY MINORS

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the legal nature of the subsidiary obligation of parents (adoptive parents) and guardians to compensate for damage caused by minors aged from 14 to 18 years. It reconsiders the traditional approach to the legal nature of this obligation, which, in civil law doctrine, is frequently regarded as a form of civil liability for the conduct of another person. Particular attention is paid to distinguishing delictual capacity as an element of civil legal capacity from a person’s actual ability to perform the obligation to compensate for the damage caused. It is substantiated that civil liability for damage caused by minors is characterised by a complex legal structure combining the minor’s personal delictual liability with the subsidiary obligation of parents (adoptive parents), guardians, or other persons designated by law. This subsidiary obligation neither replaces nor continues the minor’s liability but constitutes an autonomous legal mechanism based on the need to ensure a proper balance between the principle of the minor’s personal liability as an independent participant in a delictual obligation and the necessity of guaranteeing effective protection of the rights of the person who suffered damage through actual compensation for the damage at the expense of parents (adoptive parents), guardians, or other persons provided for by law who have failed to prove the absence of their own fault in the damage caused by the minor. It is concluded that the legal nature of the subsidiary obligation of parents (adoptive parents) or guardians consists in the emergence of an independent proprietary obligation arising from the improper performance of their own legal duties, which resulted in the minor causing damage. At the same time, the fact that the damage was caused by the minor and the minor’s lack of the actual ability to perform the obligation to compensate for the damage constitute the conditions for the enforcement of such an obligation rather than the grounds for its occurrence. Based on the findings of the study, conclusions are formulated concerning, inter alia, the need for legislative clarification of the procedure for enforcement against the property of a subsidiary debtor in order to ensure a fair balance between the interests of the person who suffered damage and those of the minor’s parents (adoptive parents) or guardians.