Parents need to know what criminal or extra-criminal prosecutions may result from their children’s actions. Parents could be the ones called to answer for them, under certain conditions.
More precisely, the Criminal Code establishes (within article 113) that a minor will not be criminally liable, in two cases: if he has not reached the age of 14, he will not be criminally liable in any situation, and if he is between 14 and 16 years old, he will be liable criminal only if he committed the act with discernment.
How children respond criminally
Thus, once he has reached the age of 16, the minor will be held criminally responsible in the same way as an adult. Specifically, article 74 of the Criminal Code provides, among the criteria for individualizing the punishment, the age of the offender.
On the other hand, if a 14-year-old minor commits a criminal act, no one will be responsible for his act, if he acted alone and unassisted or determined by someone else. This is due to the fact that no one can be criminally liable except for his own deed, according to Avocatnet.ro.
However, the one who assists or causes the commission of the criminal act, by the minor, will be responsible for his criminal act (either as an accomplice, as an instigator or even as a co-author), an aspect known as improper participation.
But, in the situation where the minor under the age of 14 has committed a serious deed (he hit someone hard, for example), uninfluenced by an individual who can be criminally liable, the minor under the age of 14 will be liable for his act civilly.
More precisely, here we are talking about tortious civil liability. That is, that liability that involves the reparation of a damage caused to another person, due to the commission of an illegal act (it does not matter if that act is provided for by the criminal law or not, the only condition, in this point, is that the act is contrary to a normative act). In such cases, the victim will be able to go directly against the minor’s parents, there is even a special regime in the Civil Code, called “responsibility for the act of the minor (…)“, according to article 1.372 of the Civil Code.
In other words, the provision mentioned above establishes that the one who is obliged to supervise him, under the law, i.e. the parent, in the above situation, will be responsible for the damage caused by the minor.
