Tort law, a fundamental building block of every legal system, features prominently in mass culture and political debates. As this pioneering anthology reveals, tort law is not simply a collection of legal rules and procedures, but a set of cultural responses to the broader problems of risk, injury, assignment of responsibility, compensation, valuation, and obligation.
Examining tort law as a cultural phenomenon and a form of cultural practice, this work makes explicit comparisons of tort law across space and time, looking at the United States, Europe, and Asia in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. It draws on theories and methods from law, sociology, political science, and anthropology to offer a truly interdisciplinary, pathbreaking view. Ultimately, tort law, the authors show, nests within a larger web of relationships and shared discursive conventions that organize social life.

All European legal systems recognise a boundary between the domains of tort and contract. While there have been voices contending that this distinction is no longer valid or at least that there should be a unification of the two sets of rules in particular contexts, others claim that there is still a very important distinction to be maintained. In fact the boundary between the two areas is often blurred and whether it is drawn in one place or another varies from country to country, giving rise to the paradox that what is considered a matter of contractual liability in one legal system is governed exclusively by tort law in another.This volume explores how differences between tort and contract affect the foundations of liability, the nature and amount of the compensation, the extent of liability and whether defences and limitation periods corresponding to the distinct causes of action give rise to substantially different outcomes. It also analyses to what extent actions in tort and in contract exclude each other and, when this is the case, how their concurrence is organised. Lastly it devotes its attention to specific situations such as pre-contractual liability and the liability of professionals.

In the mid 1980s, there was a crisis in the availability, affordability, and adequacy of liability insurance in the United States and Canada. Mass tort claims such as the asbestos, DES, and Agent Orange litigation generated widespread public attention, and the tort system came to assume a heightened prominence in American life. While some scholars debate whether or not any such crisis still exists, there has been an increasing political, judicial and academic questioning of the goals and future of the tort system.
Exploring the Domain of Tort Law reviews the evidence on the efficacy of the tort system and its alternatives. By looking at empirical evidence in five major categories of accidents--automobile, medical malpractice, product-related accidents, environmental injuries, and workplace injuries--the authors evaluate the degree to which the tort system conforms to three normative goals: deterrence, corrective justice, and distributive justice. In each case, the authors review the deterrence and compensatory properties of the tort system, and then review parallel bodies of evidence on regulatory, penal, and compensatory alternatives.
Most of the academic literature on the tort system has traditionally been doctrinal or, in recent years, highly theoretical. Very little of this literature provides an in-depth consideration of how the system works, and whether or not there are any feasible alternatives. Exploring the Domain of TortLaw contributes valuable new evidence to the tort law reform debate. It will be of interest to academic lawyers and economists, policy analysts, policy professionals in government and research organizations, and all those affected by tort law reform.

The 'reasonable person' is used to assess the acceptability of behaviour in many areas of the law including criminal law and accident law. However the reasonable person has also attracted substantial criticism from egalitarian critics and feminists insofar as it presupposes contested notions of 'normal' behaviour and may discriminate against certain classes of defendant. Rethinking the Reasonable Person systematically investigates whether there are deeper foundations to these criticisms and discusses how the legal standard might be reconstructed in a more egalitarian way.

This book is based closely on the lectures delivered by Tony Weir in 1996 as part of the Clarendon Law lectures series sponsored by Oxford University Press. It is an exciting and provocative book which contains a number of controversial propositions, defended with vigour by its author. The three lectures reproduced here deal with liability in tort for intentionally inflicted economic loss. They are characterized by a very unusual combination of bold leading statements and multi-layered supporting analysis. There are also useful Appendices containing full case transcripts of recent, significant cases, including Millar v Bassey and de Voto v Pacific. This book will be irresistible to all scholars of the law of tort, and the author's reputation alone will ensure this book is well-received.

The Optimize series is designed to show you how to apply your knowledge in assessment. These concise revision guides cover the most commonly taught topics, and provide you with the tools to: Understand the law and remember the details using diagrams and tables throughout to demonstrate how the law fits together Contextualise your knowledge identifying and explaining how to apply legal principles for important cases providing cross-references and further reading to help you aim higher in essays and exams Avoid common misunderstandings and errors identifying common pitfalls students encounter in class and in assessment Reflect critically on the law identifying contentious areas that are up for debate and on which you will need to form an opinion Apply what you have learned in assessment presenting learning objectives that reflect typical assessment criteria providing sample essay and exam questions, supported by end-of chapter feedback The series is also supported by comprehensive online resources that allow you to track your progress during the run-up to exams.

This book provides fair and acceptable solutions to hardship issues in long-term relational supply contracts. This book uses an approach to strike a balance between the traditional approach underlying classical contract law which emphasises the almost absolute prevalence of the principle of pacta sunt servanda and a flexible approach that is based on the principle of clausula rebus sic stantibus. This book argues for an emerging principle of pacta sunt servanda bona fide on the basis of the relational contract theory. Additionally, this book demonstrates how good faith can serve as a foundation for imposing a duty to renegotiate on the parties. The aim of this book is rather to propose how relational contract theory can be applied to the analysis of specific legal rules in general. Lastly, this boos highlights how the duty to renegotiate and the power to adapt a contract can be further developed upon the occurrence of hardship, based on good faith and the relational nature and characteristics of a long-term relational supply contract. This book explores and enriches the existing research on relational contract theory concentrates primarily on its application in domestic contract laws, particularly in the regulation of long-term contracts in American contract law. As an outcome this book provides a more feasible and satisfactory approach for courts or arbitral tribunals to undertake when facing hardship issues in international contract disputes. Overall, hardship themes, long-term relational supply contracts and good faith are examined extensively.

When potential litigants first approach a lawyer they are generally interested in finding out one thing only: are they likely to be able to win damages or any other kind of remedy and what kind of quantum of damages are they likely to receive? It becomes the lawyer's main task to try to argue for a remedy and to persuade the court that the plaintiff has a good cause of action. Textbooks about contract and tort frequently treat damages and other remedies as an after-thought when in fact it is the issue of remedies which is a constant and ever-present consideration for the plaintiff and his or her lawyer. This new book, containing contributions from many of the UK's leading specialists, brings to the fore a range of issues which are of topical interest to litigators and to teachers of law. In some instances the issues are currently the subject of reform proposals and these essays usefully highlight the principal issues facing the reformers and the objections which have been raised by those opposed to reform. In addition four of the essays tackle a strand of tort law which is of rapidly growing importance - the area of professional negligence. The contributors are among the best-known writers in this field and their essays combine practical and academic perspectives which usefully highlight contemporary trends in professional negligence litigation. The first chapter in the book also offers a unique and controversial overview of tort law in the UK by Professor Patrick Atiyah, who argues for a complete rethink of the system of personal injuries litigation in the UK, starting with its abolition. Not for the first time, Professor Atiyah thinks the unthinkable.

There is no universally accepted definition of moral damages, but the concept is usually understood in the context of torts that cause psychological harm to a person or a person's rights that are difficult to quantify. Heaven's Chancellery describes the difficulties of obtaining legal compensation for damages by victims of such moral injustice. To convey the legal impossibility of just compensation for intangible, and therefore immeasurable, damage, the author presents a fictional account of Adam, a scientist who believes the earthly judicial system has wronged him. Adam finds true compensation only when he is invited on a journey to seek justice in Heaven's Chancellery. By utilizing a narrative fiction, the author invites a wide audience of readers to examine the complications of compensation for intangible damage. Even if moral damage is deemed impossible to fully compensate through the legal terms that we have been used for centuries, the story of Adam's journey in Heaven's Chancellery upholds a possibility of an alternative avenue for justice previously denied to him by the earthly convent. This book will be of interest to students of law and the general reader alike.

Fourth in the popular and well-regarded SPTL seminar series, this book explores the concepts of privacy and loyalty in the law of obligations. Privacy and fiduciary obligations are two very topical subjects. The contributions include: "Privacy as a Constitutional Right and Value" by Eric Barendt; "Comparative Rights of Privacy of Public Figures" by Basil Markesinis and Nico Nolte; and "Constructive Fiduciaries?" by Lionel Smith. These essays combine practical and academic perspectives which highlight contemporary trends in the law of obligations. In addition to the essays, there is an extended editor's introduction by Peter Birks, a recognized expert in this field.

Expert medical evidence is often essential and pivotal in support or defence of medical negligence. Such cases invariably involve questions of technical and factual complexity requiring the evaluation of conflicting expert medical testimony. In this book, the first standalone textbook on expert evidence in South Africa, the authors expound and extrapolate the whole process from the initial obtaining of the relevant health records to the eventual testimony of the medical expert witness in court. The authors offer an instructive guide to busy practitioners to assist them with - Identifying the correct expert speciality or sub-speciality, The construction of a medico-legal opinion, The status of joint minutes of such experts, The preparation of an expert's examination-in-chief, Cross- and re-examination of an expert. Expert evidence in clinical negligence also discusses the invaluable role of experts in the resolution of medical malpractice disputes by way of mediation. Relevant case law and the applicable uniform rules of court are comprehensively discussed and set out in the footnotes for ease of reference.

Utilizing a comparative examination of case-law from England, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, this volume provides a comprehensive and systematic study of the law of intervening causation (novus actus interveniens) to present an analysis of this particular judicial limitation of liability device. The work provides a structure from which to formulate core general legal principles and identify the various legal tests utilized by the courts.

Should digital platforms be responsible for intimate images posted without the subject's consent? Could the viewers of such images be liable simply by viewing them? This book answers these questions in the affirmative, while considering the social, legal and technological features of unauthorized dissemination of intimate images, or 'revenge porn'. In doing so, it asks fundamental socio-legal questions about responsibility, causation and apportionment, as well as conceptualizing private information as property. With a focus on private law theory, the book defines the appropriate scope of liability of platforms and viewers, while critiquing both the EU's and US' solutions to the problem. Through its analysis, the book develops a new theory of egalitarian digital privacy.

This two-volume collection, prepared by a leading scholar in this field, brings together the seminal articles on the law and economics of tort law. The selection of papers addresses topics such as the Coase theorem, the choice between property and liability rules, the difference between negligence and strict liability, the economics of causation, damages and vicarious liability and the economics of affirmative duties. This is a classic collection that provides an essential foundation in the core issues fundamental to an understanding of tort law.

Routledge Q&As give you the tools to practice and refine your exam technique, showing you how to apply your knowledge to maximum effect in an exam situation. Each book contains up to fifty essay and problem-based questions on the most commonly examined topics, complete with expert guidance and fully worked model answers. These books provide you with the skills you need for your exams by: Helping you to be prepared: each title in the series has an introduction presenting carefully tailored advice on how to approach assessment for your subject Showing you what examiners are looking for: each question is annotated with both a short overview on how to approach your answer, as well as footnoted commentary that demonstrate how model answers meet marking criteria Offering pointers on how to gain marks, as well as what common errors could lose them: 'Aim Higher' and 'Common Pitfalls' offer crucial guidance throughout Helping you to understand and remember the law: diagrams for each answer work to illuminate difficult legal principles and provide overviews of how model answers are structured Books in the series are also supported by a Companion Website that offers online essay-writing tutorials, podcasts, bonus Q&As and multiple-choice questions to help you focus your revision more effectively.

The major mental health reforms of the last generation in the U.S.A. have given rise to much discussion and often heated debate; but have they actually produced any real changes? This book is the first overview of this controversial subject - and the author's appraisal of the consequences of these reforms is surprising. Changes which were originally aimed at making it more difficult to hospitalize and treat people with mental illness, and easier to punish them, have actually resulted in far less change than was predicted or intended. This stimulating book argues that, when the law contradicted commonsense ideas of how to deal with the mentally ill, it was bent or ignored, whether by judges, medical professionals, or family members.

The lectures presented in this volume examine the fast-growing compensation culture and the consequential pressure on courts to widen the range of situations in which individuals can claim damages from the State. Within domestic legal systems, there has been a considerable extension of tortious liability which is impinging on the State and its resources. These lectures address statutory and administrative compensation, and examine the influence of group actions and of globalization. Pressure on domestic legal systems has been increased by transnational courts, notably the Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. Carol Harlow argues that this trend towards judicialization is undesirable, and that greater use should be made of extrajudicial remedies. She contends that the issue of compensation is too important to be left to the courts.

This series argues that there is a common administrative core to European legal systems that can be better understood in comparative terms. This volume examines government liability in tort, using case studies to explore different government responses. Part I sets the stage for the project and the parameters followed by the scholars involved. Part II expands on the legal systems chosen for comparison, setting up their general tort procedures. Part III presents case studies from Austria, the European Union, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Each case study has a theoretical response detailing what would happen should that case occur within each country's borders. Part IV compares and contrasts the information provided in Part III. It examines both the commonalities and the distinctive traits of these legal systems, with a view to understand the nature of their 'common core'. This volume is an essential tool for anyone involved in administrative and constitutional law and government liability in tort.

Advances in genetic technology will lead to novel legal challenges. This book identifies four potential genomic claims which may be articulated as novel negligence challenges. Each of these claims is considered from the perspective of the English courts' approach to novel kinds of damage. It is argued that these novel genomic claims are unlikely to be favourably received given the current judicial attitude to new forms of damage. However, Victoria Chico argues that the genomic claims could be conceived of as harm because they concern interferences with autonomy. Each claim is considered from the perspective of a hypothetical English negligence system imbued with explicit recognition of the interest in autonomy. Chico examines how recognition of this new form of damage would lead to novel genomic negligence claims being treated in a way which they would not, if considered within traditional parameters of harm in negligence.

The book explores, from a comparative and inter-disciplinary perspective, the relationship between fundamental rights and private law in Europe, a debate usually referred to as Drittwirkung or 'horizontal effect of fundamental rights'. It discusses the different models of 'horizontal effect' and the impact that fundamental rights may have in shaping tort law, especially the position of child tortfeasors. The book concentrates on several European jurisdictions, namely France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, and England and Wales. At a crossroad between human rights and European private law, this study draws insights from several legal fields (international, European, tort, constitutional and child law), sociology, psychology, and feminist studies. It also considers policy implications and advances proposals which would ensure the optimisation of the effect, and maximisation of the effectiveness, of fundamental rights in tort law, and more generally in private law. This book departs from traditional legal doctrines and offers a more pragmatic, comprehensive and just legal analysis of the role of fundamental rights in private law. It will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics, practitioners, policy-makers and activists with an interest in human rights, tort law, comparative law, children's rights and European private law.

A footballer dies of dementia, younger than he should A 14-year old-rugby player is told to play on through multiple blows. He never wakes up from the last one A scientist reveals a pattern of brain disease in NFL players and is discredited A survivor of domestic abuse can't remember details when standing up in court This is the story of the degenerative brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This is a story of power, of science and sport, and of the bodies that society deems worth sacrificing. In 2019, Hana Walker-Brown created The Beautiful Brain, an award-winning podcast about West Bromwich Albion hero Jeff Astle and CTE. A Delicate Game explores the passion and fury of sport, truth and justice, violence against women, privilege, love, greed, hope and redemption. It's going to change the way you think about sport forever. For fans of She Said and Bad Blood.

'Focused content, layout and price - Routledge competes and wins in relation to all of these factors' - Craig Lind, University of Sussex, UK 'The best value and best format books on the market.' - Ed Bates, Southampton University, UK Routledge Student Statutes are: * Exam Friendly: un-annotated and conforming to exam regulations * Tailored to fit your course: 80% of lecturers we surveyed agree that Routledge Student Statutes match their course and cover the relevant legislation * Trustworthy: Routledge Student Statutes are compiled by subject experts, updated annually and have been developed to meet student needs through extensive market research * Easy to use: a clear text design, comprehensive table of contents, multiple indexes and highlighted amendments to the law make these books the most student-friendly Statutes on the market Competitively Priced: Routledge Student Statutes offer content and usability rated as good or better than our major competitor, but at a more competitive price * Supported by a Companion Website: presenting scenario questions for interpreting Statutes, annotated web links, and multiple-choice questions, these resources are designed to help students to be confident and prepared.

Feminist Perspectives on Tort brings together acknowledged experts in these two areas to pursue a distinctly feminist approach to the major areas of tort law. The first half of the book addesses negligence - including an examination of feminist issues in relation to the duty of care, procreative injuries and loss, police negligence, psychiatric harm, the standard of care and product liability. The second half of the book takes up the nominate torts: the personal torts - including the recently expanding area of privacy and torts in relation to sexual wrong and rape - and land torts - including environmental issues and gender. The final chapter of the volume considers the way in which gender affects the courts calculation of damages to the detriment of women. International in its scope, and accessibly written, Feminist Perspectives on Tort Law will be required reading for students, scholars and practitioners.

This book examines the European Community legislation that regulates the safety of consumer products. Hodges surveys the extent to which this legislation aims to and succeeds in achieving safety for a wide range of products. There are different legal requirements for medicines, machines, electronics, toys and so on, which employ different regulatory mechanisms, including pre-marketing assessment, provision of information, control of the manufacturing environment, post-marketing obligations on producers and authorities, and obligations on distributors and users. Hodges compares the various mechanisms relating to medicinal products, products covered by 'New Approach' Directives, cosmetics, biocides, tobacco products, and consumer products covered by the General Product Safety Directive, and asks why particular mechanisms are used, or not used for different products. The book then moves on to consider what is meant by product 'safety', demonstrating the relativity of this concept. Hodges highlights an important problem: that consumers, the media, and experts can all have differing ideas on the level of safety that is relevant and acceptable. Hodges contends that the systems are in need of review, to ensure they work effectively and give value for money. In some cases, there is an need for more or less control. He argues for more systematic collection of safety data, and for consistecy in surveillance and enforcement mechanisms across Europe, pointing towards the need for a European Product Safety Agency.

The book explores, from a comparative and inter-disciplinary perspective, the relationship between fundamental rights and private law in Europe, a debate usually referred to as Drittwirkung or 'horizontal effect of fundamental rights'. It discusses the different models of 'horizontal effect' and the impact that fundamental rights may have in shaping tort law, especially the position of child tortfeasors. The book concentrates on several European jurisdictions, namely France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, and England and Wales. At a crossroad between human rights and European private law, this study draws insights from several legal fields (international, European, tort, constitutional and child law), sociology, psychology, and feminist studies. It also considers policy implications and advances proposals which would ensure the optimisation of the effect, and maximisation of the effectiveness, of fundamental rights in tort law, and more generally in private law. This book departs from traditional legal doctrines and offers a more pragmatic, comprehensive and just legal analysis of the role of fundamental rights in private law. It will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics, practitioners, policy-makers and activists with an interest in human rights, tort law, comparative law, children's rights and European private law.