NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Product liability

Products liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Northern hemisphere highlighted in yellow. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Not to be confused with torte, an iced cake. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ... In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they exercise a reasonable standard of care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. ... In tort law, the standard of care is the degree of prudence and caution required of an individual who is under a duty of care. ... In the law, a proximate cause is an event sufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held the cause of that injury. ... Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from the Latin meaning literally, The thing itself speaks but is more often translated The thing speaks for itself. The doctrine is applied to tort claims which, as a matter of law, do not have to be explained beyond the obvious facts. ... In the United States, the calculus of negligence or learned hand rule is a term coined by Judge Learned Hand and describes a process for determining whether a legal duty of care has been breached (see negligence). ... The eggshell skull rule (or thin-skull rule) is a legal doctrine used in both tort law and criminal law that holds an individual liable for all consequences resulting from their activities leading to an injury to another person, even if the victim suffers unusual damages due to a pre... The tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) is a controversial legal theory and is not accepted in many United States jurisdictions. ... The rescue doctrine of the law of torts holds that, where a tortfeasor creates a circumstance that places the tort victim in danger, the tortfeasor is liable not only for the harm caused to the victim, but also the harm caused to any person injured in an effort to rescue... A duty to rescue is a concept in the law of torts that arises in a narrow number of cases, describing a circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party in peril. ... An ultrahazardous activity in the common law of torts is one that is so inherently dangerous that a person engaged in such an activity can be held strictly liable for injuries caused to another person, even if the person engaged in the activity took every reasonable precaution to prevent others... In the law of torts, property, and criminal law a trespasser is a person who is trespassing on a property, that is, without the permission of the owner. ... A licensee is a term used in the law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to enter. ... In the law of torts, an invitee is a person who is invited to land by the possessor of the land as a member of the public, or one whos invited to the land for the purpose of business dealings with the possessor of the land. ... Under the attractive nuisance doctrine of the law of torts, a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by a hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children, who are unable to appreciate the... Nuisance is a common law tort. ... Nuisance is a common law tort. ... Rylands v. ... â€œUnlawful entryâ€ redirects here. ... In law, conversion is an intentional tort to personal property (same as chattel), where defendants unjustified willful interference with the chattel deprives plaintiff of possession of such chattel. ... In tort law, detinue is an action for the wrongful detention of goods from an individual who has a greater right to immediate possession than the current possessor. ... Replevin is an Anglo-French law term (derived from repletir, to replevy). ... Trover signifies finding. ... An intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor. ... At common law, battery is the tort of intentionally (or in Australia negligently) and voluntarily touching another person without lawful excuse or justification. ... False imprisonment is a tort, and possibly a crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority. ... Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) is a common law tort claim for intentional conduct that results in extreme emotional distress. ... Consent (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification against civil or criminal liability. ... In tort law, the defense of necessity is divided between private necessity (where a person commits a tort for the defense of his own property) and public necessity (where a person commits a tort for the public good, such as cutting down someone elses trees to stop the spread... This article and defense of property deal with the legal concept of excused (sometimes termed justified) acts that might otherwise be illegal. ... â€œLibelâ€ redirects here. ... Invasion of privacy is a legal term essentially defined as a violation of the right to be left alone. ... The tort of breach of confidence, is a common law tort that protects private information that is conveyed in confidence. ... Abuse of process is a common law intentional tort. ... Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. ... Economic Torts are torts for which employers can sue trade union officials or members who are taking part in industrial action. ... Tortious interference, in the common law of tort, occurs when a person intentionally damages the plaintiffs contractual or other business relationships. ... In the law of tort, the legal elements necessary to establish a civil conspiracy are substantially the same as for establishing a criminal conspiracy, i. ... At present, the law will not enforce certain types of contracts on the ground of illegality. ... Vicarious liability is a form of strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency â€“ respondeat superior â€“ the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate, or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the right, ability or duty to... Volenti non fit injuria is a Latin expression meaning to a willing person, no injury is done. The principle is that someone who knowingly and willingly puts himself in a dangerous situation will be legally disentitled to sue for his or her resulting injuries. ... Contributory negligence is a common law defence to a claim based on negligence, an action in tort. ... If you commit a crime, you cannot sue for damages that you experience while committing the crime ... In law, damages refers to the money paid or awarded to a claimant (as it is known in the UK) or plaintiff (in the US) following their successful claim in a civil action. ... Look up Injunction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... In the common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ...

Products Liability in the United States

In the United States, the claims most commonly associated with product liability are negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and various consumer protection claims. The majority of product liability laws are determined at the state level and vary widely from state to state. Each type of product liability claim requires different elements to be proven to present a successful claim. Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ... Strict liability is a legal doctrine in tort law that makes a person responsible for the damages caused by their actions regardless of culpability (fault) or mens rea. ... In business law, a warranty is a promise that something sold is in good condition. ... Consumer protection is a form of government regulation which protects the interests of consumers. ...

Products Liability and Negligence

A products liability claim is usually based on one or more of the following causes of action:

The claims may succeed even when products were used incorrectly by the consumer, as long as the incorrect use was foreseeable by the manufacturer (or other party in the "supply chain").

In general, products liability claims are based not on negligence, but rather on strict liability. Under the theory of strict liability, a manufacturer is held liable regardless of whether it acted negligently. It allows recovery for an injured customer who might be in a difficult position to prove what a manufacturer did or did not do in its design or manufacturing process. It is presumed that a manufacturer with its deep pockets may be better situated to absorb the cost of liability and would consider such expense in setting price for its products.

Some legal commentators consider claims of failure to warn to be based on negligence.

Over time, negligence concepts have arisen to deal with certain specific situations, including negligence per se (using a manufacturer's violation of a law or regulation in place of proof of a duty and a breach) and res ipsa loquitur (an inference of negligence under certain conditions). Negligence per se is the legal doctrine whereby certain acts are considered intrinsically negligent, with no requirement to prove the negligence was known or intended. ... Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from the Latin meaning literally, The thing itself speaks but is more often translated The thing speaks for itself. The doctrine is applied to tort claims which, as a matter of law, do not have to be explained beyond the obvious facts. ...

Products Liability and Strict Liability

Products liability claims are, in general, not based on negligence, but rather on a liability theory called "strict liability."

Rather than focus on the behavior of the manufacturer (as in negligence), strict liability claims focus on the product itself. Under strict liability, the manufacturer is liable if the product is defective, even if the manufacturer was not negligent in making that product defective. Because strict liability is a harsh regime for a manufacturer, who is forced to pay for all injuries caused by his products, even if he is not at fault, strict liability is applied only to manufacturing defects (when a product varies from its intended design) and almost never applied to design and warning defects. The first case to openly discuss the application of strict liability to manufacturing defects involved an exploding Coca-Cola bottle (though the case actually upheld the plaintiff's res ipsa loquitur theory). Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from the Latin meaning literally, The thing itself speaks but is more often translated The thing speaks for itself. The doctrine is applied to tort claims which, as a matter of law, do not have to be explained beyond the obvious facts. ...

There is some confusion in judicial opinions as to whether strict liability is being applied in cases of design and warning defects. The courts may even state that they are applying strict liability. However, when the court proclaims to apply strict liability while determining product's defectiveness through the use of a consumer expectations test or risk-utility test, it is applying the negligence principles and not strict liability. Although the tests are not based on the conduct of the manufacturer, rather focusing on the product itself, they attempt to determine if the product's design or warning is reasonable. It is widely known that reasonableness is the staple of negligence, not strict liability. Consumer expectations test is used to determine whether the product is negligently designed or whether a warning on the product is defective. ... In legal disputes regarding product liability, a risk-utility test is used to determine whether the products design or warning is defective, thereby making the manufacturer liable for injuries caused by its product. ...

History

In the 1940s and 1950s, many American courts decided that it was too harsh to require seriously injured consumer plaintiffs to prove negligence claims against manufacturers or retailers. To avoid having to deny such plaintiffs any relief, these courts began to look for facts in their cases which they could characterize as an express or implied warranty from the manufacturer to the consumer. Over time, the resulting legal fictions became increasingly strained. In the common law tradition, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...

Of the various U.S. states, California was the first to throw away the fiction of a warranty and to boldly assert the doctrine of strict liability in tort for defective products, in 1963 (under the guidance of then-Associate Justice Roger J. Traynor). See Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, 59 Cal. 2d 57 (1963) [1] The importance of Greenman cannot be overstated: in 1996, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America celebrated its 50th anniversary by polling tort lawyers and law professors on the top ten developments in tort law during the past half-century, and Greenman topped the list.^[1] Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas Politics Portal A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roger John Traynor (February 12, 1900 â€“ May 14, 1983) served as the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1964 to 1970, and as an Associate Justice from 1940 to 1964. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, or ATLA, is the leading organization for lawyers representing plaintiffs in the United States. ...

Since then, many jurisdictions have been swayed by Justice Traynor's persuasive arguments on behalf of the strict liability rule, and have adopted it either by judicial decision or by legislative act.

For example, on July 25, 1985, the European Economic Community adopted the Product Liability Directive, 85/374/EEC. In language similar to Traynor's, the Directive stated that "liability without fault on the part of the producer is the sole means of adequately solving the problem, peculiar to our age of increasing technicality, of a fair apportionment of the risks inherent in modern technological production." However, the Directive also gave each member state the option of imposing a liability cap of $70 million euros per defect. is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... â€œEURâ€ redirects here. ...

Although the Supreme Court of California has since become more conservative, it continues to endorse and expand the doctrine. In 2002 it held that strict liability for defective products even applies to makers of component products that are installed into and sold as part of real property. Jiminez v. Superior Court, 29 Cal. 4th 473 (2002). Justices of the Supreme Court of California (circa May 2005). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Product liability and breach of warranty

Warranties are statements by a manufacturer or seller concerning a product during a commercial transaction. Unlike negligence claims, which focus on the manufacturer's conduct, or strict liability claims, which focus on the condition of the product, warranty claims focus on how these issues relate to a commercial transaction. Warranty claims commonly require privity between the injured party and the manufacturer or seller. Breach of warranty based product liability claims usually focus on one of three types: (1) breach of an express warranty, (2) breach of an implied warranty of merchantability, and (3) breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Additionally, claims involving real estate may also take the form of an implied warranty of habitability. Express warranty claims focus on express statements by the manufacturer or the seller concerning the product (e.g., "This chainsaw is useful to cut turkeys"). The various implied warranties cover those expectations common to all products (e.g., that a tool is not unreasonably dangerous when used for its proper purpose), unless specifically disclaimed by the manufacturer or the seller. The doctrine of Privity in English law provides that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person or agent except the parties to it. ... In business law, a warranty is a promise that something sold is in good condition. ... In common law jurisdictions, an implied warranty is a contract law term for certain assurances that are presumed to be made in the sale of products or real property, due to the circumstances of the sale. ...

Liability for Defective Products in the Republic of Ireland

Irish law on product liability was for most of its history based on negligence. With the Liability for Defective Products Act, 1991 it has now also the benefit of a statutory, strict liability regime. The Republic of Ireland has a common law legal system with a written constitution which provides for a parliamentary democracy based on the British parliamentary system albeit with a popularly elected president, a separation of powers, a developed system of constitutional rights and judicial review. ... Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ... Strict liability is a legal doctrine in tort law that makes a person responsible for the damages caused by their actions regardless of culpability (fault) or mens rea. ...

Liability for Defective Products Act, 1991

The Liability for Defective Products Act, 1991 was enacted pursuant to the EC Directive on Product Liability 85/374/EEC. Under the Act, a producer shall be strictly liable for damages in tort for damage (either to property or an individual) caused wholly or partly by a defect in his product[2]. The European Community (EC) was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Not to be confused with torte, an iced cake. ...

Producers

Under the terms of the Act a producer is anyone who: The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ...

Electricity is considered a product for the purposes of the Act To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated (such as venison). ... â€œ(TM)â€ redirects here. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ...

Defects

A defect is anything which results in the product failing to provide the safety a consumer is entitled to expect, taking into account all the circumstances[3]. The Act expressly mentions three:

Warning label on a cigarette box Warning label for an airbag A warning label is a label attached to an item, or contained in an items instruction manual, usually warning the user about risks associated with the use of the item. ...

Warning Labels

Over the past number of years a number of Irish cases have dealt with the issue of warning labels on products (mostly in connection with flammable clothing.) While developed in the context of negligence, they seem likely to inform future court judgments in terms of what constitutes a suitable presentation of a product.

In O'Byrne v Gloucester^[3] the plaintiff, a young girl, was standing next to an indoor heater when her cotton dress caught fire, burning her badly. The defendants were found guilty of negligence, in that they failed to avoid a grave and foreseeable risk by taking the easily affordable precaution of affixing a warning to the dress. Cotton ready for harvest. ... Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ...

According to the decision in Cassells v Marks and Spencers, a producer of a flammable garment, need only give a basic warning. As McGuinness J said:

"In addition, I find it somewhat difficult to follow the logic of the argument asserted on behalf of the plaintiff that a warning “KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE” merely “tells people what they know already” and is too bland. The warning clearly indicates that the garment is made of flammable material - otherwise there would be no need for the warning."

Defences

There are six specific defences available[4]. Being a strict liability statute, the defendant's taking reasonable care is irrelevant. Strict liability is a legal doctrine in tort law that makes a person responsible for the damages caused by their actions regardless of culpability (fault) or mens rea. ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... For the English law, see duty of care in English law. ...

In addition, where the damage arose partially out of the negligence of the plaintiff, then the damages shall be apportioned as per Chapter III of the Civil Liability Act, 1961. â€œNext big thingâ€ redirects here. ... The European Union is unique among international organizations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. ... Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ... In law, damages refers to the money paid or awarded to a claimant (as it is known in the UK) or plaintiff (in the US) following their successful claim in a civil action. ...

Rationale for and debate over strict liability

The most fundamental rationale for strict liability is to force producers to internalize the external costs they impose on society. By placing liability for all injuries caused by a product on its manufacturer, the manufacturer is forced to take into account, when deciding whether and how much to produce the product, the harm caused by it. If this internalized harm is so great that the manufacturer cannot profit from producing the product, it will discontinue the product, or sell it only at a higher price to consumers who value it especially highly (in economic terms, modify its activity level). In this way, strict liability provides a mechanism for ensuring that the societal good of products in the marketplace outweighs their societal harm. In economics, an externality is a cost or benefit resulting from an economic transaction that is borne or received by parties not directly involved in the transaction. ... In economics, consumers are individuals or households that consume goods and services generated within the economy. ...

Moreover, proponents of strict liability for defective products argue that strict liability is sensible because between two parties who are not negligent (manufacturer and consumer), one will still have to suffer the economic cost of the injury. They argue that it is preferable to place the economic costs on the manufacturer because it can better absorb them and pass them on to other consumers by the way of higher prices. As such, the manufacturer becomes the insurer of consumers that are injured by its defective products, with premiums paid by other consumers.

A related argument arises from the fact that the distribution of information about any given product is highly asymmetrical; the manufacturer of any given product is in a better position than the consumer to know of its particular dangers. Therefore, in order to fulfill the public policy of minimizing injury, it is more reasonable to impose the burden of finding and correcting such dangers upon the manufacturer as opposed to imposing the burden of finding and avoiding unsafe products upon the consumer. These arguments are often mentioned in cases of design and warning defects and less so in the case of manufacturing defects, since the latter are thought to be less preventable by the manufacturer because he is already acting with due care.

Critics charge that strict liability incentivizes product misuse (particularly in jurisdictions where this may not be a defense) and creates a moral hazard problem on the part of potential buyers. Reasoning that consumers will recover regardless of the amount of care they take in using the product, critics assert that consumers will underinvest in care even when they are the least-cost avoiders, thus leading to a lower aggregate level of care than under a negligence standard. This section is studied by Argagui monopoli In law and economics, moral hazard is the name given to the risk that one party to a contract can change their behaviour to the detriment of the other party once the contract has been concluded. ...

While proponents assert that the producer can build the cost into the price as insurance, critics argue that this assertion is ignorant of economics and only holds true in inelastic regions of the demand curve. As a result of strict liability for their products, manufacturers may not produce the socially optimal level of goods. Particularly with elastic regions of the demand curve, where consumers are very price-sensitive, the manufacturer by definition cannot pass on the economic costs to the consumers as a form of insurance without pricing many of those consumers out of the market for that good. However, because consumers are not willing to pay for this insurance, proponents of strict liability would argue that this is evidence of a product whose harm outweighs its good, in which case it should be removed from the market. In economics, elasticity is the ratio of the proportional change in one variable with respect to proportional change in another variable. ...

Critics also argue that applying strict liability to products results in substantially higher transaction costs. One example of these transaction costs is the creation of maintenance of legal disclaimers on products that would be unnecessary to the reasonable person -- such as the improperly algorithmic "lather, rinse, repeat" instructions on shampoos and the ubiquitous "not for human consumption" labelling on an inordinate number of non-food items. This results in a waste of time and resources for the producers who have to create these warnings, decreasing the producer surplus from trade. This also lowers the consumer surplus from these transactions, as all reasonably diligent consumers will read the unnecessary instructions, whereas the consumers likely to misuse the product are unlikely to be sufficiently diligent to read the instructions. The reasonable man or reasonable person standard is a legal fiction that originated in the development of the common law. ...

On the other hand, strict liability likely reduces litigation costs, because a plaintiff need only prove causation, not negligence.^{[original research?]} When it is clear that the product caused the plaintiff's harm, parties under a strict liability regime are prone to settle out of court, because only damages are in dispute. A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainer, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... This article is about causality as it is used in many different fields. ... Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. ...

References

November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ...

See also

This article concerns asbestos-related legal and regulatory issues. ... The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government created in 1972 through the Consumer Safety Act to protect â€œagainst unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer productsâ€. As of 2006 its acting chairman is Nancy Nord, a Republican. ... Consumer protection is a form of government regulation which protects the interests of consumers. ... Stella Liebeck v. ... A statute of limitations is a statute in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum period of time, after certain events, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated. ... Tort reform is the phrase used by its advocates who claim it is a change in the legal system to reduce litigations alleged adverse effects on the economy. ... // What is a toxic tort? A toxic tort is a special type of personal injury lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that exposure to a chemical caused the plaintiffs toxic injury or disease. ...

External links

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