The EU is active in attempting to harmonize the law of product liability and the sale of goods to consumers, with the aim of promoting fair competition, aiding the internal market, and protecting consumers. But how do the resulting laws relate to existing national laws of liability and compensation? This comparative work considers the French and English laws governing all those who may be liable for products: their producers, their suppliers, their users, and their regulators. It is a revealing case study in the harmonization of laws in Europe, in an area which cuts across the traditional boundaries of private law, public law, and criminal law.
Preface Introduction PART 1 Liability in Respect of the Manufacture, Supply, or Use of Products Preliminary 1. Introduction to Private and Public Liability in France 2. French Private Law: Delictual Liability for Products and Liability for Things 3. French Private Law: the Contract of Sale 4. French Private Law Relating to Other Examples of Liability for Products or for Things 5. Liability for Products in French Administrative Law 6. Public Services and Liability for Products in French Law 7. Introduction to Liability in English Law 8. The Tort of Negligence and its Satellites 9. Liability Under the Law of Sale of Goods 10. Public Services and Liability for Products in English Law PART 2 Administrative Liability for Failure to Regulate or Control Product Safety 11. French Law 12. English Law PART 3 Criminal Liability for Product Safety and its Relationship to Compensation 13. Fraudes, Homicides, and the Changing Role of the Partie Civile 14. Product Crimes, Murder and Manslaughter, and the Restricted Role of Compensation in the English Criminal Process PART 4 Special Compensation Systems Affecting Compensation for Products 15. Work, Traffic, Blood, and Crime: 'Special“,