Children as Victims under French Law

Abstract

In France, it is difficult to obtain figures on civil actions in general, let alone on those specifically involving children. What we can say is that in 2003, 4.2% of cases heard by the lower courts — the tribunaux de grande instance (district courts) or Cours d’appel (first-level appeal courts, CA) — involved matters relating to civil liability in general. To this we must add a significant number of cases where the civil action in damages was taken directly to the criminal court. Among the most usual causes of action, one finds countless accidents of all kinds, related to traffic, school and sports activities, many of them being caused by violence. Domestic violence is more and more in the spotlight these days but does not seem to generate much tort litigation.