Definition
Liability of a person for losses caused by an object under that person’s control.
The Law on Custodian Liability
Custodian liability means that a person is liable for losses caused by an object under that person’s control. It has its origins in the French law (Wagner 2012). Article 1384(1) of the French Code Civil states that a person is responsible for the damage caused by things in his custody. Originally, this phrase was not intended as a separate cause of action but merely as a reference to the provisions 1385 and 1386 CC, which respectively hold keepers of animals and owners of buildings liable for damage caused by animals or defective buildings. Some landmark judgments by the Cour de Cassation however transformed this statement into the legal basis for making custodians liable for damages caused by objects of any kind. A claimant needs to show that the thing has contributed to the realization of the damage. A thing includes all inanimate objects. It can be dangerous...
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De Mot, J., Visscher, L. (2014). Custodian Liability. In: Backhaus, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_541-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_541-1
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