No fault can be blamed on the owners of a swimming pool left unattended or unprotected

A two-and-a-half-year-old child escapes parental supervision. He died after falling into an unprotected swimming pool on unenclosed land three houses from his home. Parents complain to landlords and demand compensation for carelessness. The father and mother of the child consider that the owners made a mistake by placing a simple tarpaulin over the swimming pool, which did not offer all the guarantees of safety against the risk of drowning.

The Criminal Court acquits the spouses of the charge of manslaughter and declares the parents’ civil party admissible. The Court of Appeal ruled that the couple who owned the swimming pool had no fault of their own and rejected the parents’ claim for compensation.

The Court of Cassation upholds the appeal judgment and dismisses the appeal brought by the parents. The couple cannot be blamed for any recklessness (failure to put a rigid tarpaulin back on after the pelvis was cleaned and failure to keep a constant watch). The owners of the swimming pool could not legitimately envisage a very young child entering their private property alone. They cannot therefore be held liable because there is no causal link between their behavior and the death of the child who was left unattended by his parents.