General legal guidelines
From AFSWiki
Legal concerns are a common problem in many parts of the world and this impacts AFS in a number of ways. The following guidelines provide a framework in which to interpret various legal issues that may arise.
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Outside lawyers
- Do not talk directly with any outside lawyers
- If you are contacted by an outside lawyer on an AFS-related matter please take his/her number and give this information to the appropriate AFS staff member
- The national office will forward the information to the AFS lawyer who can return the call
AFS' legal responsibility
- AFS can be held responsible for a volunteer's action, as long as the volunteer acts within the scope of his or her duties
- AFS is not legally responsible for the acts of participants (refer to the Participation Agreement for further explanation)
- All participants are subject to the laws of the host country
Host family legal responsibility
- Host families are NOT the legal guardians of the participants they host, nor are they legally responsible for their acts.
- The host family-participant relationship is legally termed a "host-guest" relationship. This means that host families are expected to give due care to participants, but are not legally responsible for them.
- Natural families always have the final say with respect to decisions affecting their children in terms of legal representation or lawsuits.
- If schools or any other agencies require parent or legal guardian signatures on any document, natural families must sign for the participant. Host families cannot sign any document as the legal guardian or parent of the participant. This is a somewhat undefined area-- any discussion about host family/participant responsibility beyond this guideline should be referred to the appropriate staff who can then refer it to the AFS lawyer as needed.
Bank accounts
- Participants should be encouraged to open their OWN bank accounts
- Host families and participants sharing bank accounts should be avoided
