Delictual Liability of Parents for the Actions of their Minor Children: A Comparison between France and Mauritius

296 Abstract In this paper, we compare the legislation and the case law in France and Mauritius on the delictual liability of parents for the harm caused by their minor child(ren). Such a comparison is justified from a historical point of view, as in Mauritius, even today, French civil law plays the role of a persuasive authority. However, important differences can be discerned between the French and Mauritian tort law regimes as regards the delictual liability of parents for the actions of their minor children. These differences concern the nature of the liability of parents, the place of the fault of a child in the structure of the delictual liability of their parents, the possibility/impossibility of emancipating a minor by marriage or a court decision, and the definition of cohabitation. This paper contains a critical analysis of these differences.