Sino-European Private Law Forum - Fault-based and Strict Liability

The fourth project in the cooperation between ETL, ECTIL and the Law School of Yantai University (Sino-European Tort Law Institute), China, addresses the topic ‘Fault-based and Strict Liability’. While it seems safe to say that all European legal systems, as well as the Chinese Tort Liability Law, endorse liability based on fault, they differ in their attitude towards liability in the absence of such a foundation. The aim of the project is to examine the Chinese Tort Liability Law’s relatively cautious use of strict liability, on the one hand, and prominent support for it in influential Continental European jurisdictions, on the other. It is hoped that this will allow valuable new perspectives to be gleaned on the viability of commonly-used bases for strict liabilities. The project pays special attention to the use of rules reversing the burden of proof of fault in Chinese and European statutes, which are sometimes considered to fall into a grey area between fault-based and strict liability. The study is being led by Ernst Karner (ETL, ECTIL and Vienna University).

The results will be published in English by Jan Sramek Verlag (Vienna): Fault-based and Strict Liability. Chinese and European Perspectives (expected 2022).