Contemporary philosophy and tort law have long enjoyed a happy union. Tort theory today is an exceptionally active and wide ranging field within legal philosophy. This volume brings together established and emerging scholars from around the world and from varying disciplines that bring their distinct perspective to the philosophical problems of tort law. These ground breaking essays advance longstanding debates and open up new avenues of enquiry thus deepening and broadening the field. Contributions cover the major problematic areas of tort law, such as the relations between responsibility, fault, and strict liability; the morality of harm, compensation, and repair; and the relationship of tort with criminal and property law among many others.

The late Chief justice of South Africa, Pius Langa, was a remarkable man. He achieved so much in his life and touched many people with his quiet dignity, his generosity and his sparkling humour. As a lawyer, he had a profound impact on the establishment of South Africa's new democracy and the adoption of the country's Constitution. Through his work on the Constitutional court, he charted a path that would allow the country to reach what he called the 'vision of the Constitution'. As a man, he served as an example to many: He was strong, committed, empathetic, thoughtful and kind. A transformative justice: Essays in honour of Pius Langa and Acta Juridica 2015 pay tribute to this remarkable man and lawyer. The book has three sections: first, a series of personal tributes to Justice Langa; second, reflections on the work of the Constitutional court under Langa's leadership as well as aspects of his philosophy as a judge; and third, explorations of a variety of specific themes in his judgments, writings and speeches. The contributions to A transformative justice are written by eminent judges, academics and practitioners, many of whom worked closely with Langa. The book addresses a broad range of practical and theoretical topics, including transformative constitutionalism, judicial dissent, the role of the people in constitutionalism, and legal education, as well as the areas of customary law, contract law, delict, administrative law, criminal law and procedure, and the protection of rights to equality, freedom of religion and culture.

Pure economic loss is one of the most-discussed problems in the fields of tort and contract. How do we understand the various differences and similarities between these systems and what is the extent to which there is a common-core of agreement on this question? This book takes a comparative approach to the subject, exploring the principles, policies and rules governing tortious liability for pure economic loss in a number of countries and legal systems across the world. The countries covered are USA, Canada, Japan, Israel, South Africa, Japan, Romania, Croatia, Denmark and Poland, with the contributors taking a comparative fact-based approach through the use of hypothetical problems to analyze and then summarize the individual country's tort approach. Using a fact-based questionnaire, a tested taxonomy, and a sophisticated comparative law methodology, the authors convincingly demonstrate that there are liberal, pragmatic and conservative regimes throughout the world. The recoverability of pure economic loss poses a generic question for these legal systems - it is not just a civil law versus common law issue. It will be of interest to students and academics studying tort law and comparative law in the different countries covered.

The highlight of this intellectually rich volume is the multiple perspectives it offers on the economic analysis of the tort system. In collecting these essays from leading legal scholars, Jennifer Arlen offers a wide range of empirical, institutional, and doctrinal dimensions of economic thought critical to assessing how our socio-legal system addresses the problem of accidental harm. The volume will serve as an invaluable contribution to the literature on the dynamic character of the tort system in action.' - Robert L. Rabin, Stanford Law School, US'An indispensable resource for anyone interested in economic analysis of tort law, and tort law period. Professor Arlen has assembled an academic all-star team, and its members have prepared up-to-date, high quality, and accessible treatments of centrally important topics ranging from causation and damages to vicarious liability and insurance to tort reform and tort alternatives. With respect to the analysis of tort law through the lenses of empirical and microeconomic analysis, this is now the go-to volume.' John Goldberg, Harvard Law School, US 'This Handbook redefines the boundaries of research in the economics of torts by integrating the standard model with a theoretical and empirical analysis of the institutions intervening before (contracts) and after (litigation) the occurrence of harm. It is an essential companion for scholars working in this field and provides plenty of new ideas for further research.' - Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands This pioneering Handbook contains specially-commissioned chapters on tort law from leading experts in the field. This volume evaluates issues of vital importance to those seeking to understand and reform the tort law and the litigation process, taking a multi-disciplinary approach, including theoretical economic analysis, empirical analysis, socio-economic analysis, and behavioral analysis. Topics discussed include products liability, medical malpractice, causation, proximate cause, joint and several liability, class actions, mass torts, vicarious liability, settlement, damage rules, juries, tort reform, and potential alternatives to the tort system. Scholars, students, legal practitioners, regulators, and judges with an interest in tort law, litigation, damages, and reform will find this seminal Handbook an invaluable addition to their libraries. Focusing on issues of vital importance to those seeking to understand and reform the tort system, this volume takes a multi-disciplinary approach, including theoretical economic analysis, empirical analysis, socio-economic analysis, and behavioral analysis of liability rules and the litigation process. Topics discussed include products liability, medical malpractice, causation, proximate cause, joint and several liability, class actions, mass torts, vicarious liability, settlement, damage rules, juries, tort reform, and potential alternatives to the tort system. Scholars, students, law practitioners, regulators, judges and economists with an interest in tort law, litigation, damages, and reform will find this seminal Handbook an invaluable addition to their libraries. Contributors: J. Arlen, L. Babcock, T. Baker, R. Cooter, A.F. Daughety, D. DePianto, S.S. Diamond, T. Eisenberg, R.A. Epstein, J. Furgeson, M.A. Geistfeld, M.F. Grady, L. Hardcastle, M. Heise, E. Helland, D.R. Hensler, K.N. Hylton, L.A. Kornhauser, R. Kraakman, G. Miller, J.F. Reinganum, J.M. Salerno, S.A. Seabury, C.M. Sharkey, P. Siegelman, E.L. Talley, M. Trebilcock, P.-E. Veel, W.K. Viscusi, A.L. Wickelgren, K. Zeiler

The Future of Open Data flows from a multi-year Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant project that set out to explore open government geospatial data from an interdisciplinary perspective. Researchers on the grant adopted a critical social science perspective grounded in the imperative that the research should be relevant to government and civil society partners in the field. This book builds on the knowledge developed during the course of the grant and asks the question, "What is the future of open data?" The contributors' insights into the future of open data combine observations from five years of research about the Canadian open data community with a critical perspective on what could and should happen as open data efforts evolve. Each of the chapters in this book addresses different issues and each is grounded in distinct disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives. The opening chapter reflects on the origins of open data in Canada and how it has progressed to the present date, taking into account how the Indigenous data sovereignty movement intersects with open data. A series of chapters address some of the pitfalls and opportunities of open data and consider how the changing data context may impact sources of open data, limits on open data, and even liability for open data. Another group of chapters considers new landscapes for open data, including open data in the global South, the data priorities of local governments, and the emerging context for rural open data.

In a number of important decisions such as Stovin v. Wise, X v. Bedforshire, Barrett v. Enfield London Borough Council and others, English courts have been forced to grapple with the important issue of tortious liability of statutory bodies. Following the Hill decision, they opted for a wide non-liability rule on a variety of policy and economic efficiency grounds. Yet many of their arguments have been considered and rejected by both German and French courts when deciding factually equivalent situations.

This study analyses five leading English cases in a comparative and economic way and questions the validity of their assumptions as well as their arguments in the light of the recent important decision of the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights in Osman v. UK.

This thought-provoking book, written by two English academics from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, in collaboration with two leading authorities from the Universities of Paris and Munich, should provide food for thought for judges, practitioners, academics and students for years to come.

This book will be essential reading for scholars and practitioners interested in public law, human rights, comparative methodology, and tort law.

The foundations of tort law differ considerably in the various European legal systems. For a number of years a group of tort law experts, the European Group on Tort Law, has been engaged in a systematic examination of the fundamental questions of tort law with a view to formulating principles which will contribute to a "common law of Europe". Although the work has been centred on Europe, it has been informed by contributors from a number of overseas systems. This is the ninth volume in a series setting out the results of the work of the Group: earlier volumes have covered matters such as wrongfulness, causation, contributory negligence and liability for others In this volume, the authors provide an overview of the law governing multiple tortfeasors (the situation where the victim of a tort contends that more than one person is responsible for an injury suffered by him) seen from the angle of fifteen legal systems. The law has two aspects: the "external" one relating to the relationship between the victim and the tortfeasors, particularly the question of how far each is liable to the victim for the whole damage; and the "internal" relationship of the tortfeasors, raising issues of recourse inter se. Each country report consists of an account of the theoretical basis of the law in this area, together with an examination of its operation via a variety of factual situations. There is also a comparative report which summarizes the most important elements identified by the country reports and identifies the existing common ground. This volume provides the legal scholar and the practitioner with a wealth of information and insights on a complex and controversial area of law in an accessible form.

This textbook covers the Tort Law option of the A-level law syllabus, and provides at the same time an ideal introduction for anybody coming to the subject for the first time. The book covers all A-level syllabuses/specification requirements, and is written by the examiner in Tort Law for one of the major examination boards. It contains extensive case illustration, and a range of examination related questions and activities. There is a special focus on key skills, and on the new synoptic assessment syllabus requirements. This fully updated third edition builds upon the success of the first two editions, containing a new section on human rights and new case information such as Z v UK, Rees, Walters, Fairchild, Tomlinson, Marcic, Transco, National Blood, Mothercare, Douglas v Hello, Campbell v MGN. fully updated third edition coverage of OCR and AQA specifications, endorsed by OCR for use with Tort Law option includes new OCR synoptic assessment source materials (for use in examinations in June 2005) with additional guidance author is a Principal Examiner for one of the major examination boards new cases include Z v UK, Rees, Walters, Fairchild, Tomlinson, Marcic, Transco, National Blood, Mothercare, Douglas v Hello, Campbell v MGN, with expanded discussion of human rights and new health and safety regulations

'Proving' the cause of the plaintiff's injury in personal injury litigation often entails significant challenges, particularly when science cannot identify the cause of a biological phenomenon or when the nature of this cause is debatable. This problem is frequently encountered in medical malpractice cases, where the limitations of scientific knowledge are still extensive. Yet judges must decide cases, however uncertain the evidence with regard to proof of causation. Reluctant to leave patients without compensation, courts have in some cases challenged their traditional approach to causation through recourse to such techniques as reliance on factual presumptions and inferences, the concept of loss of chance, and reversal of the burden of proof. This book analyses and criticises the use of these various techniques by the courts of England, Australia, Canada, France, and the civilian Canadian province of Quebec in confronting evidentiary causal difficulties caused by the uncertainties of medical science.

Though mental harm can be profoundly disabling, the law imposes strict limits on who can recover damages for it. In the absence of physical injury, compensation is not normally available for negligently caused mental suffering, however severe, unless it constitutes a 'recognisable psychiatric illness'. Claimants whose mental trauma stems from injury caused to someone else are subject to arbitrary restrictive liability rules that dispense with established legal principles and cannot be reconciled with scientific advances. The book traces the history of civil liability for mental harm up to the present day. It is argued that the reluctance to provide redress reflects an enduring suspicion of intangible injury and undue fear of proliferating claims. The scale and legal ramifications of the Hillsborough disaster; the emergence of claims arising from work-related stress, and other new categories of claims based mainly on prior relationships between the parties, have all added to a 'floodgates fear' that has intensified due to popular perceptions of a 'compensation culture'. The book contrasts the limited scope for liability under English law with developments in several other jurisdictions. It is argued that statutory reform is needed to achieve greater legal coherence and to provide a remedy that tracks the impact and severity of harm and is not confined to psychiatric disorders. A new legal framework is offered, rooted in reasonable foreseeability of mental or emotional harm, with a liability threshold of 'moderate severity'. To allay concerns about proliferating claims, modifications to the compensatory regime for personal injury are proposed.

A comprehensive review of the practical implications of the numerous recent cases on swaps and derivatives.

The foundations of tort law in various European legal systems vary considerably. Until now, there has not been an attempt to harmonize 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 book, 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 topic of 'wrongfulness', trying to combine theoretical abstract analysis with the discussion of concrete cases. Each author gives an overview of wrongfulness 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 addition, some members of the group work out the nature of protected interests and important reasons for the extent of protection, and discuss the overlap of contractual and tortious liability. In summary, the book not only explores the common ground underlying all the legal systems concerned with respect to the concept of wrongfulness, but also informs academics and practitioners of the fundamental questions of wrongfulness underlying the law of tort in various distinct jurisdictions.

In Happily Ever After, Jack Zipes addresses his ongoing concern regarding the socialization of children, the impact of the fairy tale on children and adults, and the future development of the fairy tale as film. As a result of analyzing the historical trajectory of storytelling and the literary fairy tale, the essays in Happily Ever After move from the sixteenth century to the present, between different cultures and societies, and from specific analyses to general syntheses.

eBook available with sample pages: PB:0415918510

The topic is of particular interest for insurers as compensation for loss of housekeeping capacity is one of the main heads of damages awarded for personal injury. Naturally it also has considerable importance for accident victims. Yet it has received relatively little scholarly attention, at least from a comparative perspective. The aim of this study is to examine national approaches to the award of damages under the head of loss of housekeeping capacity, and to compare the levels of damages so awarded. The research will therefore address both the concepts employed in different national systems and, by means of practical case studies, the compensation actually paid in individual cases. The results of the research comprise ten country reports (Austria, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland) based on a Questionnaire (Part I: General Part and Doctrine, Part II: Concrete Assessment Examples) and a concluding Comparative Report. This project, "Loss of Housekeeping Capacity", was undertaken at the request of the Swiss Insurance Association.

Thousands of lawsuits continue to be filed in federal and state courts each year to seek recovery from manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. These lawsuits include individual actions, actions consolidated into federal multidistrict litigation, multi-plaintiff cases, and class actions. As drug and device litigation remains as active as ever, companies that develop new drugs and devices continue to face significant and often costly product liability litigation in the United States. This new and revised edition of Drug & Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy provides detailed background, discussion, and strategic guidance to those practicing in this field. The book offers lawyers a detailed analysis of the full range of issues involved in drug and device litigation, including pre-litigation counselling, document preservation and discovery, consolidation and mass joinder, multidistrict litigation, class action litigation, admissibility of expert testimony, dispositive and pre-trial motion practice, jury selection, and trial. This second edition not only contains thorough revisions to reflect recent changes in the legal landscape following key court decisions and statutory developments in areas such as preemption, admissibility of expert testimony, the learned intermediary doctrine, and innovator liability, but also contains new analyses of issues such as personal jurisdiction, pre-litigation counselling, and the amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It is an indispensable guide to lawyers handling cases in this high-stake, high-profile, and rapidly evolving area.

Initiated by the European Commission, the first study published in this volume analyses the largely unresolved question as to how damage caused by artificial intelligence (AI) systems is allocated by the rules of tortious liability currently in force in the Member States of the European Union and in the United States, to examine whether - and if so, to what extent - national tort law regimes differ in that respect, and to identify possible gaps in the protection of injured parties. The second study offers guiding principles for safety and liability with regard to software, testing how the existing acquis needs to be adjusted in order to adequately cope with the risks posed by software and AI. The annex contains the final report of the New Technologies Formation of the Expert Group on Liability and New Technologies, assessing the extent to which existing liability schemes are adapted to the emerging market realities following the development of new digital technologies.

Key Facts Key Cases: Tort Law will ensure you grasp the main concepts of your Tort Law module with ease. This book explains the facts and associated case law for: The torts of negligence, occupiers' liability and nuisance Strict liability torts The torts of trespass to land and trespass to the person Torts involving goods Torts affecting reputation Employment related torts Available remedies Key Facts Key Cases is the essential series for anyone studying law at LLB, postgraduate and conversion courses. The series provides the simplest and most effective way to absorb and retain all of the material essential for passing your exams. Each chapter includes: diagrams at the start of chapters to summarise key points structured headings and numbered points to allow for clear recall of the essential points charts and tables to break down more complex information Chapters are also supported by a Key Cases section which provides the simplest and most effective way to absorb and memorise essential cases needed for exam success. Essential and leading cases are explained The style, layout and explanations are user friendly Cases are broken down into key components by use of a clear system of symbols for quick and easy visual recognition

Private law governs our most pervasive relationships with other people: the wrongs we do to one another, the property we own and exclude from others' use, the contracts we make and break, and the benefits realized at another's expense that we cannot justly retain. The major rules of private law are well known, but how they are organized, explained, and justified is a matter of fierce debate by lawyers, economists, and philosophers. Ernest Weinrib made a seminal contribution to the understanding of private law with his first book, The Idea of Private Law. In it, he argued that there is a special morality intrinsic to private law: the morality of corrective justice. By understanding the nature of corrective justice we understand the purpose of private law - which is simply to be private law. In this book Weinrib takes up and develops his account of corrective justice, its nature, and its role in understanding the law. He begins by setting out the conceptual components of corrective justice, drawing a model of a moral relationship between two equals and the rights and duties that exist between them. He then explains the significance of corrective justice for various legal contexts: for the grounds of liability in negligence, contract, and unjust enrichment; for the relationship between right and remedy; for legal education; for the comparative understanding of private law; and for the compatibility of corrective justice with state support for the poor. Combining legal and philosophical analysis, Corrective Justice integrates a concrete and wide-ranging treatment of legal doctrine with a unitary and comprehensive set of theoretical ideas. Alongside the revised edition of The Idea of Private Law, it is essential reading for all academics, lawyers, and students engaged in understanding the foundations of private law.

The debate about the use of genetically modified organisms in European agriculture is fuelled by the fear of the general public about potential risks of GM farming, whether substantiated or not. Transgenic food is suspected to cause bodily harm, have a negative impact upon the health of animals, weaken the productivity of conventional farmland, reduce biodiversity or otherwise deteriorate the environment, to name but a few dangers popping up in the public debate. Apart from setting standards for GM farming and requiring safety checks for transgenic products, all jurisdictions also provide for the case that such risks should materialize. These are not necessarily novel approaches - classic tort law already offers remedies for such losses. Sometimes these traditional solutions are enhanced or replaced by alternative redress schemes. This volume compares twenty European and four non-European jurisdictions in this respect and provides special analyses from an economic and insurance perspective as well as surveys of cross-border dispute resolution and international law.

Since the mid-twentieth century, Western societies have seen an unprecedented increase in movements, demands, and policies in favor of reparations. The historical catastrophes that shook the last century are both the immediate origin of this groundswell and its founding paradigm. The Reparable and the Irreparable: Being Human in the Age of Vulnerability places reparation within a wider contemporary context and describes it in its full anthropological depth. Repair is a global phenomenon that does not present itself in a unified way. Ideas of repair and reparation are expressed at different levels; for instance, one can mend a damaged object, heal a wound, redress an injury, or make amends for an offence. Johann Michel explores how repair and reparation tell us about human beings' (natural) vulnerability, our (moral) fallibility, and our (social) incompleteness, but also about the many capabilities we draw upon to mitigate these shortcomings. It is from the heart of human finitude that repair and reparation draw meaning, and the irreparable-whether due to time or to a debt that can never be repaid-haunt any policy of reparation. Such are the challenges to be addressed by a philosophy of repair and reparation constructed in renewed dialogue with the social sciences.

Provides an authoritative analytical and practical doctrinal consideration of the law relating to professional immunities in tort law. Dr Davies primarily focuses on English law with some coverage of other common law jurisdictions where cases and other materials are relevant. Professional obligations and liabilities play an important role in tort, with a limited number of professional and occupational groups considered to benefit from some 'immunity' from these. This essential text reviews the nature of immunities and considers the contexts in which the term is used before providing examples of those 'immune' professions with reference to case law and leading secondary commentary. It addresses the rationales and justifications for immunities and, more broadly, their interaction with general professional negligence and liability issues.

Occupiers' liability is an area of tort law rich in statutory material and jurisprudence, having developed outside the framework of general negligence liability. It governs the duty of care which an occupier, landlord or builder owes to people who visit or trespass on their land. As the only text offering in depth analysis and commentary on the legislation and case law surrounding occupiers' liability, this book represents a key reference text for all those involved in advising on or researching this area. Each aspect of the law in this area is examined in detail, with the definitions of premises, occupiers, visitors, and trespassers analysed through a substantial body of case law. The types of harm which occupiers may be liable for and the available defences are also given detailed discussion. Further chapters are devoted to the specific provisions and precedents governing the scope of the statutory duty of care, liability of independent contractors, and the liability of occupiers to those who enter premises under contract. The text also covers the statutory regime and case law surrounding liability for defective premises under the Defective Premises Act 1972, which replaced provisions relating to this under the 1957 Occupiers' Liability Act. The book includes the full text of both the 1957 and the 1984 Occupiers' Liability Acts and of the Defective Premises Act 1972.

How often our actions go awry because our perceptions are at odds with reality! This book examines the legal issues that arise when we seek to avoid the untoward consequences of an action by claiming that our perception was flawed. We all make mistakes. Some have unfortunate consequences: we might overpay a debt or make an unfavourable contract, or we might be sued or accused of a crime as a result of our mistake.
Claims to alleviation on the grounds of mistake are likely to arise wherever the law prescribes a state of mind (some kind of intent) as a prerequisite for the application of a legal rule. This book asks when the fact that a person made a mistake should entitle them to alleviation. This may involve the intention to enter into a contract or a payment, in which case a person could seek its reversal, or it might involve the intent to commit a tort or crime, in which case they could seek forgiveness for the offence. Farnsworth defines 'alleviating' mistakes as those which entitle a person to relief from untoward consequences of their mistake.
There is no general 'law of mistake', and despite their similarities, few discussions of mistake in one setting pause to consider mistakes in other contexts. The goals of fields as disparate as contracts and criminal law are very different: how do these differences affect the treatment of mistakes? Farnsworth sets out a new taxonomy of mistakes. His analysis reveals that over the past century, there has been a remarkable increase in the receptivity of courts and scholars to claims for both reversal and forgiveness--a waxing of alleviating mistakes.

Gradually, the law of tort has shifted away from a strict-liability approach to one where fault predominates. This book charts important case law documenting this shift. It seeks to understand how and why it occurred. Given that the Rylands v Fletcher decision is typically seen as a prime exemplar of strict liability, it focusses particularly on that case, as part of the historical development of tort law. It considers the intellectual arguments made in favour of strict liability, and for fault-based liability. Having done so, it then focusses on particular areas of the law of tort, including nuisance, defamation and trespass. It is somewhat anomalous that though most would view these as examples of torts of strict liability, fault considerations have become prominent in their application. This presents an uneasy compromise, where torts that are notionally strict in nature are infused with fault considerations, often through exceptions or defences. This book advocates for further development in the law of tort to better reflect a primarily fault-based approach to liability, at least in the common law. This would make the law of tort more coherent.