Strict Liability in Tort

1
Strict Liability in Tort

• Anglo-American Law 2003/2004

2
Strict Liability

• D is liable for injuries caused by
  products/activites even when he used reasonable
  care
• Areas of application
• Abnormally Dangerous (Ultrahazardous) Activities
• Products Liability

3
Principle of Strict Liability

• Supposed added deterrent effect
• Requires extra care when people engage in
  activities that pose a considerably higher risk
  than ordinary background risk of daily life
• Shifts burden of preventing accidents to large,
  complex, well-funded entities engaging in risky
  behavior

4
Abnormally Dangerous Activities

• involves a high degree of risk of harm
• likely involves great gravity of harm
• carries risk which cannot be eliminated by the
  exercise of reasonable care
• is not a matter of common usage
• is inappropriate to the place where it is carried
  out
• has relatively low value to the community.

5
Negligence in Products Liabilty Cases

• Duties of Manufacturers
• Design and manufacture the product in reasonably
  safe way
• Inspect and test it adequately,
• Provide reasonable warnings and instructions for
  its use, and
• Acquire components for product from reliable
  sources and use reasonable care to make certain
  they are not defective.

6
Strict Products Liability

• Continuous expansion of liability as society
  becomes more dispersed, anonymous
• Originally, liability for harm arising from
  product required privity of contract between D
  and P
• Breach of warranty theory no longer adequate
• Greenman like cases establish unwaivable duty
  in tort, regardless of relationship between D and
  P

7
Strict Products Liability

• Sec. 402A, Restatement
• defective condition unreasonably dangerous
• Seller engaged in business of selling such
  product
• No substantial change
• Negligence irrelevant
• No contractual relationship irrelevant

8
Types of Defects

• Manufacturing defect Because of an error in the
  manufacturing process, one particular item
  produced by a manufacturer has a defect that
  makes it unreasonably dangerous.
• Design defect A defect in the basic design of a
  product makes all of the products defective and
  unreasonably dangerous.
• Defective Warning Prodcut OK, but does not come
  with adequate instructions and warnings necessary
  to instruct the consumer how to use it properly
  and safely.