Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Perspectives

Published by De Gruyter 2013

Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Perspectives

Edited by: Israel Gilead , Michael D. Green and Bernhard A. Koch

Volume 33 in the series Tort and Insurance Law

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110282580

Overview
Contents

About this book

Causal uncertainty is a wide-spread phenomenon. Courts are often unable to determine whether a defendant’s tortious conduct was a factual cause of a plaintiff’s harm. Yet, sometimes courts can determine the probability that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s harm, although often there is considerable variance in the probability estimate based on the available evidence. The conventional way to cope with this uncertainty has been to apply the evidentiary rule of ‘standard of proof’.

The application of this ‘all or nothing’ rule can lead to unfairness by absolving defendants who acted tortiously and may also create undesirable incentives that result in greater wrongful conduct and injustice to victims. Some courts have decided that this ‘no-liability’ outcome is undesirable. They have adopted rules of proportional liability that compensate plaintiffs according to the probability that their harm was caused by the defendant’s tortious conduct.

In 2005 the Principles of European Tort Law (PETL) made a breakthrough in this regard by embracing rules of proportional liability. This project, building on PETL, endeavours to make further inquiries into the desirable scope of proportional liability and to offer a more detailed view of its meaning, implications, and ramifications.

Author information

Israel Gilead, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Michael D. Green, Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem, USA; Bernhard A. Koch, Innsbruck University, Austria.

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
General Report Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Report Israel Gilead, Michael D. Green and Bernhard A. Koch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Country Reports
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Austria Bernhard A. Koch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in the Czech Republic Luboš Tichý and Jiří Hrádek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Denmark Andreas Bloch Ehlers and Vibe Ulfbeck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in England and Wales Ken Oliphant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in France Olivier Moréteau Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Germany Ulrich Magnus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Greece Eugenia Dacoronia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Israel Boaz Shnoor and Israel Gilead Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Proportional Liability in Uncertain Settings: Is it Precautionary? Italian Insights and Comparative Policy Considerations Giovanni Comandé and Luca Nocco Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Going Dutch: How to Address Cases of Causal Uncertainty Anne L.M. Keirse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Norway Bjarte Askeland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Poland Ewa Bagińska Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in South Africa Johann Neethling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Spain Miquel Martín-Casals and Josep Solé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in Switzerland Pierre Widmer and Bénédict Winiger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in the US Michael D. Green Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Judges, Practitioners, Scholars and Students
Pages
- Front matter: 20
- Main content: 376
Keywords: Tort Law

eBook

Published: October 14, 2013
ISBN: 9783110282580

Hardcover

Published: September 17, 2013
ISBN: 9783110282535