An adult woman is taking the unusual and unprecedented step of initiating legal action against a 6-year-old child over a collision on the Austrian ski slopes which she claims caused her serious injuries, leaving her unable to ski again.
The action, said to be worth €38,000 (£25,000), for 'causing a skiing accident' has arisen after the courts dismissed an earlier attempt to sue the adult who was supervising the child at the time of the accident.
The highly unusual case will now see a judge sit and decide whether the 6-year-old can be held legally responsible for its actions.
None of those involved have been named under strict Austrian privacy laws.
The accident took place on the slopes of Hochhäderich mountain in the Bregenzerwald forest near the border with Germany. The child, who was part of a ski school group (nationality unknown), allegedly made a sudden turn into the path of the woman causing her to fall. The woman’s lawyers claim she was severely injured and can no longer ski as a result of the accident.
“In the first instance, supervisors such as parents or ski instructors would be sued for negligence of their responsibility of oversight,” Claudia Hagen, a spokesman for the court, told Austria’s APA news agency. That had already happened, Ms Hagen said, but the courts are believed to have dismissed the case.
Under Austrian law, children under the age of 14 cannot generally be held responsible in a civil case, but the law does allow for an exception where a child is capable of understanding the consequences of his or her actions. Now the court must decide whether that applies in the case of this 6-year-old.
Any damages would be awarded on the assumption they would be paid by the child’s insurance and would certainly set a precedent.
At an initial hearing last week, a court expert testified that neither the adult woman nor the child were paying proper attention before the accident. They were both equally responsible, he said.
The case continues.
