Fundamentals of liability: evolution and current situation

Recommended Prerequisites

Law of Obligations. Basic knowledge of French and English.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methodologies:

After and also during each work session there shall be the opportunity for dialogue.

Presentation of reports that result from personal research.

Methods of evaluation:

Participation in seminar discussions (15 %);

Research paper (85 %).

Learning Outcomes

The objective is to promote a reflection on the evolution of  tort law, especially from the beginning of the 19th century onwards. In the first semester, we shall concentrate on the foundations of liability “fault” and “risk” bearing in mind the development of private and social insurances. The teaching aims at a cultural and interdisciplinary understanding of this evolution and also at promoting the skills for scientific research.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

I.          The origins: private vengeance and later developments

II.         The fault.

             1. Napoleon Code of 1804.

             2. Progressive abstraction of the fault criteria.

             3. Return to a subjective concept?

III.          Strict Liability.

             1. Industrialization and the development of strict liability.

             2. From specific strict liability torts to general clauses?

IV.         The “socialization of responsibility” and the “socialization of reparation”.

Assessment Methods

Evaluation
Participation in seminar discussions (15 %);: 15.0%
Research paper (85 %).: 85.0%

Bibliography

Jorge SINDE MONTEIRO, Estudos sobre a Responsabilidade Civil, Coimbra, 1983.

J. SINDE MONTEIRO, “Responsabilidade Delitual. Da Ilicitude”, in Comemorações dos 35 anos do Código Civil Português, Vol. III, Direito das Obrigações, Coimbra Editora, 2007.

Geneviève VINEY, Le Déclin de la Responsabilité Individuelle, Paris, 1965.

René SAVATIER, Comment Repenser la Conception Française Actuelle de la Responsabilité (extrait du Rec. Dalloz Sirey), Paris, 1968.

Pierre WIDMER /Pierre WESSNER, Avant-projet de loi fédérale sur la révision et l’unification du droit de la responsabilité civile (Suíça) et Rapport Explicatif, in http://www.bj.admin.ch/content/bj/fr/home/themen/wirtschaft/gesetzgebung/abgeschlossene_projekte/haftplicht.html