Vicarious liability is a legal principle which assigns liability to a party for the action/s committed by another party. As a rule of thumb, a person who commits a crime is considered to be criminally liable. However, there are circumstances whereby another person is considered liable for the actions of another owing to the legal relationship between them. Legal relationship that may lead to be considered vicariously liable ensues between parent and child, husband and wife, owner of a vehicle and driver and employer and employee.

How is vicarious liability imputed to a legal person? In terms of Maltese legislation, specifically Section 13 of the Interpretation Act of the Laws of Malta criminal responsibility may be attributed to the legal person. However, since in practice a legal person cannot be represented in criminal proceedings such representation is vested in one of the natural persons that is bestowed with legal representation.

In such instances there is a shift in the burden of proof since normally in criminal proceedings the prosecution must prove its case against the defendant, as the latter is innocent until proven guilty , whilst in such cases of vicarious liability it is up to the defendant to prove that he is not guilty of the charge brought against him.

Moreover, the Interpretation Act allows the defendant the possibility to exonerate himself from criminal liability. In order for this to happen, the defendant must prove that the commission of the offence was done without his knowledge and furthermore exercised all the necessary due diligence to prevent it from happening.

Furthermore, there is also a shift in the onus of proof. The defendant needs to prove his case up to a level of probability. Whilst on the other hand, the prosecution must prove his case beyond reasonable doubt.

It is to be noted that the issue of vicarious liability can be extended to other persons who are not necessarily legal or moral persons. Typical examples stem from L.N. 1/2006, in which vicarious liability it attributed to persons who are the license holders of places of entertainment. According to this legal notice they are vicariously responsible to ensure that under aged persons do not enter their establishment and are served alcohol.