Unification Of Tort Law Wrongfulness

Covers various European countries and South Africa.

Covers various European countries, Israel, South Africa, and the United States.

The foundations of tort law in various European legal systems differ considerably. Until now, there has not been an attempt to harmonise the entire field of tort law in a consistent manner. To rectify this, a group of tort lawyers has proposed to address the fundamental questions underlying every tort law system. The result is this important series of books, which searches for a common law of Europe without the necessity yet to lay these principles down in formal legal texts, such as a European civil code. Identifying the most relevant factors in establishing liability as wrongfulness, causation, damage, fault, and the area of strict liability, the authors concentrate on the tort liability factor under discussion in each volume, combining theoretical abstract analysis with the discussion of concrete cases. Each author gives an overview of the particular tort liability factor under his or her national legal system--primarily by working out the concept and its importance in establishing liability--and then applies the analysis to actual cases. The subsequent conclusions aim at the coordination of the results and other important factors. In summary, each volume tries to make clear what common ground pertaining to each tort liability factor underlies all the legal systems concerned with respect to the law of tort. Each volume also provides the academic and practitioner with the fundamental issues relating to that factor underlying the law of tort in the countries covered.

Covers various European countries, Israel, South Africa, and the United States.

This publication deals with central aspects of European tort law. Most of the contributions are written from a comparative perspective and with a view towards the unification of European tort law. Much debated developments in important areas, e.g. psychological lesion, product liability, the compensation of non-pecuniary loss and problems known under the headings «wrongful birth/wrongful life», are discussed, taking into account recent court decisions both on the national and European levels. Two contributions dealing with comparative institutional analysis and economic analysis of the law represent modern approaches to the evaluation and future development of tort law in general. This truly European orchestra on tort law is completed by an analysis of Eastern European sources - which shed light onto the dogmatic foundations and the desirability of general presumptions of fault - and the experience of a mixed jurisdiction (South Africa).

Covers various European countries, Israel, South Africa, and the United States.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to how the legal dimension of prevention against harm and loss allocation is treated in South Africa. This traditional branch of law not only tackles questions which concern every lawyer, whatever his legal expertise, but also concerns each person’s most fundamental rights on a worldwide scale. Following a general introduction that probes the distinction between tort and crime and the relationship between tort and contract, the monograph describes how the concepts of fault and unlawfulness, and of duty of care and negligence, are dealt with in both the legislature and the courts. The book then proceeds to cover specific cases of liability, such as professional liability, liability of public bodies, abuse of rights, injury to reputation and privacy, vicarious liability, liability of parents and teachers, liability for handicapped persons, product liability, environmental liability, and liability connected with road and traffic accidents. Principles of causation, grounds of justification, limitations on recovery, assessment of damages and compensation, and the role of private insurance and social security are all closely considered. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for lawyers in South Africa. Academics and researchers will also welcome this very useful guide, and will appreciate its value not only as a contribution to comparative law but also as a stimulus to harmonization of the rules on tort.

The goal of this study is to provide a general overview and thorough analysis of how the European Court of Human Rights deals with tort law issues such as damage, causation, wrongfulness and fault, the protective purpose of rules, remedies and the reduction of damages when applying art 41 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). These issues have been examined on the basis of a comprehensive selection and detailed analysis of the Court’s judgments and the results compared with different European legal systems (Austria, Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey), EC Tort Law and the Principles of European Tort Law. The introduction of art 41 (ex art 50) ECHR in 1950 as a compromise and the issues it raises now, the methodological approaches to the tort law of the ECHR, the perspectives of human rights and tort law and public international law as well as the question of whether the reparation awarded to victims of ECHR violations can be considered real ‘just’ satisfaction are addressed in five special reports (two of which are also available in German). Concluding remarks try to summarise the outcome.