Howells, Geraint; Owen, David G. --- "Products Liability Law in America and Europe" [2010] ELECD 174; in Howells, Geraint; Ramsay, Iain; Wihelmsson, Thomas; Kraft, David (eds), "Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law

Editor(s): Howells, Geraint; Ramsay, Iain; Wihelmsson, Thomas; Kraft, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201287

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Products Liability Law in America and Europe

Author(s): Howells, Geraint; Owen, David G.

Number of pages: 32

Extract:

9. Products liability law in America and
Europe
Geraint Howells and David G. Owen



1. Introduction
Products liability, a field of law that is most developed in America and Europe,
concerns the liability of a manufacturer or other seller for injuries caused by
defects in products that it sells.1 This chapter presents a framework of the
developing principles of products liability law in America and Europe.
Comparative products liability law is quite recent,2 yet it lends a vital perspec-
tive to this area of the law in a world where products are manufactured, distrib-
uted, fail, and injure human beings without regard to the boundaries of nation
states.3
Important aspects of modern products liability law, in both America and
Europe, rest on principles of strict seller liability for defective goods rooted in
custom and law as far back as the eye can see. These principles may be traced
back at least to Roman law, which imposed an implied warranty of quality


1 D. Owen (2008), Products Liability Law, 2nd edition, St Paul, MN: Thomson-
West, § 1.1; G. Howells (ed.) (2007), The Law of Product Liability, London: Lexis-
Nexis Butterworths, para. 1.6. By America, we mean the United States thereof.
2 We trace comparative scholarship on this topic to G. Howells (1993),
Comparative Product Liability, Aldershot: Dartmouth (Europe, the UK, France,
Germany, Scandinavia, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and J. Stapleton
(1994), Product Liability, London: Butterworths (the UK, and the US). More recent
work ...