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New Publication:
Journal of European Tort Law
The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL) and the Institute for European Tort Law (ETL) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences are pleased to announce the launch of their new official journal, the Journal of European Tort Law (JETL), which will be published by the distinguished house of de Gruyter (Berlin).
The JETL is the first law review to be dedicated to this important and dynamic area of European private law. It aims to contribute to the analysis and development of tort law in Europe by the publication of scholarly articles, comments and reviews. Its focus is primarily comparative, but it will also publish analyses of the tort law of single legal systems where the subject matter is of sufficient interest to the Journal’s general readership. Comparative analyses of non-European systems from the perspective of European tort law will also appear from time to time. The Journal embraces all scholarly perspectives, including economic analysis of law and socio-legal studies. Its subject matter is both substantive tort law, including its place in the general law of obligations, and the wider tort system, including its practical operation and its relationship with such institutions as private and social insurance.
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Conference:
The 9th Annual Conference on European Tort Law
From April 8, to April 10, 2010 the 9th Annual Conference on European Tort Law will take place in Vienna. The conference will provide a forum for both academics and practitioners to learn about and discuss the most recent developments in Tort Law. Reporters from 28 jurisdictions will present tort law developments from 2009. Moreover, the conference will include a special session on Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life.
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New Translations:
Principles and Unification works in Chinese
We are pleased to announce that new full Chinese translations of the Principles of European Tort Law and the accompanying Commentary as well as selected works from the Unification of Tort Law series are now available.
The bare text of the Principles themselves was available in numerous translations upon original publication but this new presentation of the Principles with its surrounding Commentary and some of the precursor works of the European Group will allow all Chinese tort scholars to fully engage with the Principles and help strengthen the ongoing academic exchanges between these two traditions.
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New Publication:
Helmut Koziol,
Grundfragen des Schadenersatzrechts
"Grundfragen des Schadenersatzrechts" provides a challenging introduction to tort law, analysing and developing the fundamental ideas on which this field of law is based on. This work has the aim of challenging familiar assertions, of reassessing apparently enshrined considerations, as well as drawing out the coherence of the subject area.
This work will be of interest to both scholars of tort law and the wider field of obligations dealing as it does not simply with the nature and aims of liability in tort, but also with the manner in which these aims and their realisation in concrete rules effects and interacts with the wider legal environment. When subjected to such wide ranging and rigorous analysis such questions reveal themselves to be of vital importance and interest to all actors on the legal stage whether judge, legislator, professor or student. [Read more]
New Publication:
Aggregation and Divisibility of Damages
The European Centre for Tort and Insurance Law is pleased to announce its most recent publication in the ongoing and well received series Tort and Insurance Law.
The volume, entitled Aggregation and Divisibility of Damages' (vol.26 of the series), edited by Ken Oliphant deals with a number of important and interconnected, though not always appreciated, legal issues.
Whether the harm for which compensation is sought in an action in tort is regarded as a single indivisible loss or a plurality of losses can have a number of important ramifications for the law of tort, for example, in considering compensable damage, the apportionment of responsibility between multiple tortfeasors, and the application of limitation periods and (where they exist) caps and thresholds.
These issues may have particular significance in the context of mass torts, and raise questions of private international law and civil procedure as well as substantive tort law. They are also of considerable practical importance for insurers.
New Publication:
European Tort Law 2008
The European Tort Law Yearbook provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in tort law in Europe. It contains reports on most EU Member States and also provides contributions from Norway and Switzerland. Furthermore, an overview of the developments in the field of EU law is provided. In conclusion, a comparative summary reviews the essential aspects of all reports, which are written by scholars from the respective jurisdictions.
Focusing on the year 2008, the authors critically report on important court decisions, present new legislation and provide a literature overview. In addition to the national reports, the European Tort Law 2008 Yearbook contains the opening lecture of the 8th Annual Conference on European Tort Law as well as four essays on questions of burden of proof.
The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law is Celebrating its Decennial in 2009
As part of these celebrations ECTIL would like to bring to the attention of its patrons a function at the Austrian Ministry of Justice on Thursday, December 3, 2009 where judges and sponsors who have worked with ECTIL over the last decade will discuss the impact of that work along with the Principles of European Tort Law on the legal landscapes of Europe.
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Lecture: The spectre of a tortious constitutional remedy for length of proceedings: a uniquely Irish solution to a European problem
Cases involving excessively lengthy legal proceedings in breach of article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, have only recently come to light as a problem in the Irish legal system. This problem has itself dogged other European legal systems for a long time. In a recent case, the Irish Supreme Court has for the first time mooted a potential constitutional remedy for this problem. You are cordially invited to attend a lecture presented by Stuart Wallace LLB, LLM (Hons) (NUI) analysing the compatibility of this new remedy with European standards and the approaches adopted by other jurisdictions to this problem. The lecture will also provide an overview of the Irish legal system and the development of constitutional rights.
The lecture will take place on Thursday, November 26, 2009, 9:30 s.t. in the premises of the European Centre. If you wish to attend please register your interest by contacting zeiler@ectil.org.
Conference: Human Rights and Tort Law, Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The goal of the “Human Rights and Tort Law” Conference is to provide a general overview and thorough analysis of how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) deals with tort law issues such as causation, attribution of liability, heads of damage as well as the assessment and the award of damages – particularly in respect of Article 41 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
This one-day Conference will bring together a distinguished panel of scholars and judges of the ECtHR as keynote speakers. There will be ample room for discussion, both at the Conference as well as informally.
Further information on this conference including a programme and registration forms is available on the Website of the Institute for European Tort Law.
Institute for European Tort Law
Symposium on Media Governance between Law and Self-Regulation
The media market is rapidly changing. The traditionally dominant media of the past decades are being superseded by newer “Push” and “Pull” media, more integrated media strategies and original content production. The forces of competition, previously constrained by several factors, have been unleashed on the market. This competition is intensifying with greater media saturation and the colossal changes in the working conditions of the journalists.
In this changing landscape, we must question whether the media is still fulfilling its role in society. How the media is embracing its role and the causes, if any, for its failure to fulfil its role? These important questions provide the starting point for the second symposium on “Media and Law”.
The Institute for European Tort Law in co-operation with the Commission for Comparative Media and Communication Studies held a symposium on Media Governance on 5. November, 2009, 16.30 at the Academy of Sciences.
Lecture: Milestones in the Past, Present and Future of Slovakian Tort Law - Between Emancipation & Europeanization
The Slovak Republic’s tort law has historically been highly dependent on other legal regimes and systems as a result of political circumstances. The customary law of Hungary, Czechoslovakian republican law and communist legal doctrines have all left their marks on Slovakian tort law.
In recent years, however, political independence and accession to the EU has offered Slovakia a unique opportunity to develop its own tort law. You are cordially invited to attend a lecture presented by Mag. Edina Toth on the development of Slovakian tort law over the past number of years as it has charted a path between self determination and adherence to European standards.
Special issue of the King's Law Journal on "European Tort Law"
We are pleased to announce the publication of a special issue of the King's Law Journal on "European Tort Law" (2009, vol. 20, issue 2). Ken Oliphant, Member of the ECTIL and the European Group on Tort Law acted as guest editor; Bernhard A. Koch, as well Member of the ECTIL and the European Group on Tort Law, contributed substantially with an article on the "Principles of European Tort Law".
Until 2007 the King's Law Journal was known as the King's College Law Journal. It was established in 1990 as a legal periodical publishing scholarly and authoritative Articles, Notes and Reports on legal issues of current importance to both academic research and legal practice. It has a national and international readership, and publishes refereed contributions from authors across the United Kingdom, from continental Europe and further afield (particularly Commonwealth countries and USA).
Colloquium
Going Beyond the Mixed Jurisdiction Theory: the Emergence of Hybrid Legal Systems and their Implications for the Comparative Lawyer
The Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (Lausanne) holds in Lausanne a colloquium entitled "Going Beyond the Mixed Jurisdiction Theory: the Emergence of Hybrid Legal Systems and their Implications for the Comparative Lawyer". The colloquium will take place from Thursday, September 10, 2009, to Friday, September 11, 2009.
You can download a Programme (Size 177 kB) and a Registration form (Size 157 kB) and find further information via www.isdc.ch.
New Publication
Punitive Damages: Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives
Punitive damages remain one of the most controversial areas in the history of tort law. With the growing discourse on the subject on the continent and indeed across the globe, the Institute for European Tort Law of the Austrian Academy of Sciences concluded that it seemed worthwhile and even an urgency to discuss, thoroughly and on a comparative basis, the nature, role and suitability of such damages in tort law and private law in general. This is especially so in light of the attempts to reform and unify continental European legal systems and the recent seminal judgments and consultations in this field of law.
The Institute for European Tort Law thus embarked on a comprehensive study on punitive damages in 2007 and its publication, Punitive Damages: Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives, is now widely available. The European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL) also supported this publication through an operating grant from the European Commission.
The study covers jurisdictions that openly endorse punitive damages, in particular, England, South Africa and the United States as well as those jurisdictions which purport (sometimes emphatically) to deny their existence (although some of them covertly incorporate punitive damages into the framework of their tort systems). The position in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, the Scandinavian countries as well as EU Law are thus considered. The study also includes a report on punitive damages from an insurance, law and economics and private international law perspective. A report on aggravated damages precedes a comparative report and conclusions. The publication follows a Conference held in November 2008 which was chaired by Sir Henry Brooke, whose chairmanship of the Law Commission for England and Wales coincided with the start of the Commission’s consultation on punitive damages, and Prof. Ken Oliphant, the recently appointed Director of the Institute for European Tort Law.
It will appeal to students, academics, practitioners, judges, policy makers and those in the insurance industry.
The 8th Annual Conference on European Tort Law – a Success!
From the April 16, to April 18, 2009 the 8th Annual Conference on European Tort Law took place in Vienna. This year more participants than ever attended the conference organized by the Institute for European Tort Law of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ETL) and the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL).
Once again the conference provided a forum for both academics and practitioners to learn about and discuss the most recent developments in Tort Law 2008. Lectures were provided by Country reporters from 27 jurisdictions as well as by international experts in the field of Burden of Proof.
New Publication
Economic Loss Caused by Genetically Modified Organisms
Liability and Redress for the Adventitious Presence of GMOs in Non-GM Crops
This book presents how European jurisdictions currently respond to economic losses caused by the admixture of genetically modified crops with conventional or organic crops and what alternatives there are from a comparative perspective. Country reports from most European countries are complemented by an economic analysis of possible solutions as well as a survey of insurance problems.
Institute for European Tort Law
Conference on Punitive Damages, Vienna
The Conference on Punitive Damages, organised by the Institute for European Tort Law, took place on Monday, 17 November 2008. Chaired by Sir Henry Brooke, former Chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales, and the incoming Director of the Institute, Ken Oliphant, the Conference brought various country representatives together to present the position on punitive damages – whether openly or covertly endorsed – in their respective jurisdictions. The presentations, which also included ones from an insurance, law and economics and private international law perspective, were based on a study which will be published in spring 2009.
New Publication
European Tort Law 2007
The European Tort Law Yearbook provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in tort law in Europe. It contains reports on most EU Member States, including the new Member States the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania. Furthermore, the Yearbook provides contributions from Norway and Switzerland as well as an overview of the developments in the field of EU law. In conclusion, a comparative summary reviews the essential aspects of all reports, which are written by scholars from the respective jurisdictions. Focusing on the year 2007, the authors critically report on important court decisions, present new legislation and provide a literature overview. In addition to the national reports, the European Tort Law 2007 Yearbook contains the opening lecture of the 7th Annual Conference on European Tort Law examining "The Development of Tort Law" as well as four essays on questions of prescription.
Tort Law Conference in Switzerland
EUROFORUM Haftpflicht Jahrestagung 2008
On October 2, 2008, current trends and developments in tort and insurance law were discussed at a EUROFORUM conference in Rüschlikon (Switzerland) chaired by the head of ECTIL's supervisory board, Pierre Widmer.
Principles Presentation
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Meeting
The Principles of European Tort Law were discussed at this year's Annual Meeting of the Society of Legal Scholars in London on September 17, 2008.
Guest Lecture
Anthony J. Sebok (Brooklyn Law School),
"Taking Tort Law Seriously in the Alien Tort Statute"
Professor Sebok was the Centennial Professor of Law and the associate dean for research at Brooklyn Law School, where he taught for 15 years. In 2005-06, Professor Sebok was a Fellow in the Program in Law and Public Affairs at Princeton University and is currently teaching at Cardozo Law School New York. He has authored numerous articles about mass restitution litigation, including lawsuits involving tobacco, handguns, and slavery reparations.
Professor Sebok gave a guest lecture on the 14th June 2008. The pictures of this event can be accessed via this link.
Guest Lecture
Sir Basil Markesinis, QC, DCL, LLD, FBA
"Weltliteratur and Global Law - Lessons from Goethe. How can one make comparative law appear relevant and useful to our times?"
The opening lecture of our new premises in the Reichsratsstrasse was delivered by Professor Sir Basil Markesinis, QC, on Friday, April 11, 2008.
Sir Basil, a leading comparative lawyer who has received high distinctions and honours in many European countries, addressed the audience consisting of friends and supporters of the European Centre and the Research Unit on the topic Weltliteratur and Global Law - Lessons from Goethe.
His impressive lecture was followed by a lively discussion with the audience. The pictures of this event can be accessed via this link.
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