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Introduction
The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law was founded in Vienna at the beginning of 1999 with a two-fold purpose - on the one hand to create a secure institutional basis for the drafting of the Principles of European Tort Law by the European Group on Tort Law and, on the other hand, to undertake further research projects in the field of tort and insurance law.
Since November 2000 the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law, based in Vienna, has been an association, whose purposes, as contained in the statutes, are:
- to do legal and comparative legal research in the field of national, international and common European tort and insurance law and of the unification of European tort and insurance law;
- to draft Principles for a future harmonization of European tort law in cooperation with the European Group on Tort Law;
- to cooperate with scholars and research institutions in the field of tort and insurance law and with undertakings and corporations interested in such cooperation for joint research projects
The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law is currently supported, among others, by the following major sponsors:
- ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG (main sponsor)
Further sponsors, in alphabetical order:
- Association of Metaltechnology Industries (Fachverband Metalltechnische Industrie), Vienna
- Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice
- Austrian Insurance Association
- Austrian Society for Bank Research (BWG)
- Ecclesia Versicherungsdienst GmbH
- Geneva University, Switzerland
- Prof (FH) Mag Otto Lucius (Banking Education & Examination Centre – BEC GmbH, Vienna)
- Munich Re
- Swiss Insurance Association
In 2007 and 2009 ECTIL was supported by the European Union/Commission Directorate General freedom, security and justice.
Donations made to ECTIL are, according to §4a Abs2 Z1 and Abs3 Z4 to 6 of the Austrian Income Tax Law (Einkommenssteuergesetz, EStG), tax-reducing donations.
Further institutions and individuals are supporting members.
In addition to scientists from almost all European Union countries as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lichtenstein, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States of America, the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the Supervisory Board contribute to projects of the European Centre.
ECTIL is closely working together with the Institute for European Tort Law of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Graz.
The European Centre further co-operates with (in alphabetical order):
- European and Comparative Private Law Observatory, University of Girona (Spain)
- Faculty of Law, Yantai University (Sino-European Tort Law Institute) (PR China)
- Institute for Transnational Legal Research (METRO), University of Maastricht (the Netherlands)
- World Tort Law Society
The founders of the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law, the European Group on Tort Law, are pursuing the most ambitious project with the support of ECTIL and the Institute for European Tort Law: the drafting of "Principles of European Tort Law".
The aim of this broadly-based comparative research is to create the foundation for discussing a future harmonisation of the law of tort in the European Union, above all with respect to a possible codification of European Private Law. Further, the "Principles" shall form a stimulus for both academics and practitioners and could serve as a guideline for national legal systems, thereby leading to gradual legal harmonisation. Finally, the present isolated tort law regulations, which are at times themselves contradictory, require a uniform concept from the European Union.
The European Group on Tort law spent more than a decade on preparatory works for the Principles. During this time, the key elements of the law of delict were treated in seperate comparative studies published in the Unification of Tort Law Series by Kluwer Law International (The Hague/London/New York).
The Principles and the Commentary were presented to the public for the first time on May 19 and 20, 2005 in Vienna. At the same time, The European Group on Tort Law published its Principles of European Tort Law, accompanied by a Commentary and several translations, by Springer (Vienna/New York). The current version of the principles and several translations can be accessed on the Group's website. The Principles and the Commentary were presented and discussed at further conferences in Europe and in overseas.
The European Group on Tort Law is currently working on further aspects not yet covered by the Principles as they stand and envisages to produce an expanded and amended version of the Principles of European Tort Law.
The work of the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law is, however, not limited to the drafting of the Principles. In addition, the Centre is involved in many other comparative legal research studies, the results of which are published in the series "Tort and Insurance Law" until the end of 2009 by Springer (Vienna/New York) and since 2010 by de Gruyter (Berlin/Boston). Past and current research projects are presented in a separate [section on this website].
The results of most research projects are presented in public conferences throughout Europe. If you would like to be notified of future events please send us an e-mail.
Apart from these special conferences, the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law and the Institute for European Tort Law organize an Annual Conference on European Tort Law in Vienna, where tort law experts from throughout Europe present the highlights of their contributions to the European Tort Law Yearbook, which is published after the Conference.
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The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law was founded in Vienna at the beginning of 1999 with a two-fold purpose - on the one hand to create a secure institutional basis for the drafting of the Principles and, on the other hand, to undertake further research projects in the field of tort law.
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