Vicarious Liability

Running Head : Vicarious Liability

Vicarious Liability

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Abstract

The legal system has expanded to include incidences where legal liability is placed on the third parties who were not directly involved in the damages and injuries that result from the activities of the others whom they have bestowed responsibility . This culminates in what is commonly referred to as vicarious liability

Introduction

Vicarious liability has been defined as the legal doctrine which assigns liability for an injury or damage to an individual who

is not directly liable for the injury but instead has legal connection to the party responsible for the injury . It is a form of strict and secondary liability which comes up under the common law doctrine of agency which asserts that the superiors bear the responsibility for the actions of their subordinates . In essence , vicarious liability implies taking legal responsibility for the actions of other individuals . According to Joseph Devine Vicarious liability is the legal concept which allows for one party to be held liable for injuries or damages sustained by another party , despite having had no active involvement in the incident (Devine , 2010 para 1 . This paper shall seek to analyze the concept of vicarious liability as it applies in the American legal system

Background

Whereas common law concept regarding corporate criminality is not a new concept , the courts in the early 16th and 17th centuries continued to grapple with the complexities involved in bringing criminal charges against a fictional being . The common law...