Strict liability and the common law -- Strict liability and particular torts in legal history -- Rylands v Fletcher in the United Kingdom -- Comparative approach to Rylands v Fletcher liability -- Summary of the theoretical debate : strict liability and fault-based liability -- Critical reflections on the justifications for strict liability -- The tort of nuisance and fault -- Strict liability in the law of defamation -- Trespass and fault.
Gradually, the law of tort has shifted away from a strict-liability approach to one where fault predominates. This book charts important case law documenting this shift. It seeks to understand how and why it occurred. Given that the Rylands v Fletcher decision is typically seen as a prime exemplar of strict liability, it focusses particularly on that case, as part of the historical development of tort law. It considers the intellectual arguments made in favour of strict liability, and for fault-based liability. Having done so, it then focusses on particular areas of the law of tort, including nuisance, defamation and trespass. It is somewhat anomalous that though most would view these as examples of torts of strict liability, fault considerations have become prominent in their application. This presents an uneasy compromise, where torts that are notionally strict in nature are infused with fault considerations, often through exceptions or defences. This book advocates for further development in the law of tort to better reflect a primarily fault-based approach to liability, at least in the common law. This would make the law of tort more coherent.
"Gradually, the law of tort has shifted away from a strict-liability approach to one where fault predominates. This book charts important case law documenting this shift. It seeks to understand how and why it occurred. Given that the Rylands v Fletcher decision is typically seen as a prime exemplar of strict liability, it focusses particularly on that case, as part of the historical development of tort law. It considers the intellectual arguments made in favour of strict liability, and for fault-based liability. Having done so, it then focusses on particular areas of the law of tort, including nuisance, defamation and trespass. It is somewhat anomalous that though most would view these as examples of torts of strict liability, fault considerations have become prominent in their application. This presents an uneasy compromise, where torts that are notionally strict in nature are infused with fault considerations, often through exceptions or defences. This book advocates for further development in the law of tort to better reflect a primarily fault-based approach to liability, at least in the common law. This would make the law of tort more coherent"--
This Volume offers an introduction to the Israeli legal system. It includes a detailed analysis of the Foundations of the Israeli Law, Civil, Public and Criminal Law, Trade and Business Law as well as a presentation of Israel within the International Law.
G. Edward White's 'Tort Law in America' is regarded as a standard in the field. Concise, accessible and wide-ranging, White's work represents a major work of legal scholarship, providing an enduring intellectual history of American tort law.
The publication of Scholars of Tort Law marks the beginning of a long overdue rebalancing of private law scholarship. Instead of concentrating on judicial decisions and academic commentary only for what that commentary says about judicial decisions, the book explores the contributions of scholars of tort law in their own right. The work of a selection of leading scholars of tort law from across the common law world, ranging from Thomas Cooley (1824–1898) to Patrick Atiyah (1931–2018), is addressed by eminent current scholars in the field. The focus of the contributions is on the nature of the work produced by each of the scholars in question, important influences on their work, and the influence which that work in turn had on thinking about tort law. The process of subjecting tort law scholarship to sustained analysis provides new insights into the intellectual development of tort law and reveals the important role played by scholars in that development. By focusing on the work of influential tort scholars, the book serves to emphasise the importance of legal scholarship to the development of the common law more generally.
Tort Law: A Modern Perspective is an advanced yet accessible introduction to tort law for lawyers, law students, and others. Reflecting the way tort law is taught today, it explains the cases and legal doctrines commonly found in casebooks using modern ideas about public policy, economics, and philosophy. With an emphasis on policy rationales, Tort Law encourages readers to think critically about the justifications for legal doctrines. Although the topic of torts is specific, the conceptual approach should pay dividends to those who are interested broadly in regulatory policy and the role of law. Incorporating three decades of advancements in tort scholarship, Tort Law is the textbook for modern torts classrooms.
This revised second edition of Comparative Tort Law: Global Perspectives offers an updated and enriched framework for analysing and understanding the current state of tort law around the world. Using a critical comparative methodology, it covers not only the common tort law issues but also many jurisdictions often overlooked in the mainstream literature. Contributions explore illuminating case studies from tort systems in Europe, the US, Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, including new chapters specifically discussing tort law in Brazil, India and Russia.
This English translation makes available to anglophone readers a modern classic of German tort theory. It argues that modern German tort law is faced with doctrinal tensions based on problematic theoretical assumptions which stem from historical conceptions of tortious liability, inappropriate to modern times. From a theoretical perspective, it argues against the prevalent doctrinal view in Germany that conceives of tortious liability as split between two tracks - a fault-based track and a strict liability track - each with different normative foundations. Instead, Jansen asserts that there is no rigid distinction between the normative foundations of each form of liability. Rather, both fault liability and strict liability in German law, and indeed other European systems, are best considered as resting upon the unifying theoretical structure of outcome responsibility. The book thus places responsibility rather than wrongdoing at the centre of the normative foundations of tort law. Historically, the book traces in detail how conceptions of tort liability have changed from Roman law to contemporary legal doctrine. It shows how particular historical understandings of the normative basis of tort law have led to continuing normative tensions in contemporary doctrine. Finally, the book examines how a reconstruction of modern German - and, indeed, European - law as based upon outcome responsibility should affect its doctrinal structure. This book makes contributions to the study of the theory, history, and doctrinal structure of tort law. While drawing on and explaining German tort law, its comparative, theoretical, and historical analysis will be of interest to scholars in all legal systems.
