International Harmonization of Product Liability Theory

1985年欧共体指令引入的无过错产品责任原则的目的是使共同市场上的竞争条件均等，实现货物的自由流动。本研究旨在通过对欧盟指令通过15年多来的经验研究，探讨欧盟国家产品责任立法的现状，明确产品责任原则的国际协调问题。尽管欧洲自由贸易区成员国和欧盟国家都根据欧共体指令推出了基于无过错责任原则的产品责任立法，但各国对其的解释和管理却各有不同。此外，在欧盟国家，基于此类产品责任立法的诉讼数量相对较少，大部分产品责任诉讼是在法院外和解或根据…裁决的。更传统的侵权法或对比法。对于无过错责任原则在欧盟国家没有作为统一的产品责任规则发挥作用的原因，可以找到几种解释。其一是即使免除了过失的举证责任，受害人对因果关系的举证责任仍然很重。二是欧共体指令下的无过错责任原则不适用于500欧元以下的财产损害赔偿，即使大多数产品责任案件只涉及少量财产损害，其后果是欧洲认识到美国产品责任的危急状况是由美国特有的社会和法律制度造成的，通过统一产品责任规则很难实现产品安全和受害者赔偿的国际协调。然后，人们意识到产品安全法规国际协调的必要性，它们已经开始朝着这个方向前进。较少

The no-fault product liability doctrine introduced by the EC directive in 1985 has a purpose to equalize the competing conditions in the common market and to achieve the free movement of goods. In this study, it is intended to explorer the current environment of product liability legislation in the EU countries and to make clear the issues on the international harmonization of product liability doctrine based on the research of the European experiences for more than 15 years after the adoption of the EC Directive.Even though the EFTA courtiers as well as the EU countries have introduced product liability legislation based on the no-fault liability doctrine according to the EC directive, there are varieties of its interpretation and administration among the countries. Furthermore, in the EU countries, the number of lawsuits based on such product liability legislation is relatively small, and the most of the product liability litigations are settled outside of courts or decided under the … More traditional tort or contrast laws. Several explanations can be found for reasons why the no-fault liability doctrine is not functioned as the uniform product liability rule in the EU countries. One is that a victim still has a heavy burden of proof on the causation even the burden of proof on negligence was removed. The other is that the no-fault liability doctrine under the EC directive is not applicable to property damages under 500 Euro even most of product liability cases involve only small value of property damages.As the consequences, it is recognized in Europe that the US critical situation of product liability is attributable to the social and legal system which are unique to US and that it is difficult to achieve the international harmonization for product safety and victim compensation by the unification of product liability rule. Then, it is realized that the necessity for the international harmonization for product safety regulations and they have started to move forward on such direction. Less