Helmut Koziol (Ed.)
Unification of Tort Law: Wrongfulness
Kluwer Law International, The Hague 1998.
The foundations of tort law in various European legal systems vary
considerably. Until now, there has not been an attempt to harmonize the
entire field of tort law in a consistent manner. To rectify this, a group
of tort lawyers has proposed to address the fundamental questions
underlying every tort law system. The result is this important book, which
searches for a common law of Europe without the necessity yet to lay these
principles down in formal legal texts, such as a European civil code.
Identifying the most relevant factors in establishing liability as
wrongfulness, causation, damage, fault, and the area of strict liability,
the authors concentrate on the topic of `wrongfulness', trying to combine
theoretical abstract analysis with the discussion of concrete cases. Each
author gives an overview of wrongfulness under his or her national legal
system, primarily by working out the concept and its importance in
establishing liability - and then applies the analysis to actual cases.
The subsequent conclusions aim at the coordination of the results and
other important factors.
In addition, some members of the group work out the nature of protected
interests and important reasons for the extent of protection, and discuss
the overlap of contractual and tortious liability.
In summary, the book not only explores the common ground underlying all
the legal systems concerned with respect to the concept of wrongfulness,
but also informs academics and practitioners of the fundamental questions
of wrongfulness underlying the law of tort in various distinct
jurisdictions.
Introduction; H. Koziol. Wrongfulness in the Italian Legal
System; F.D. Busnelli, G. Commandé. Some Remarks on the Borderline
between Contract and Tort Liability; F.D. Busnelli, G. Commandé.
Wrongfulness in Belgian Tort Law; H.A. Cousy. Wrongfulness under
Greek Law; K.D. Kerameus.Wrongfulness under Austrian Law; H.
Koziol. The Borderline Between Tort Liability and Contract; H.
Koziol. The Nature of the Interests Protected by Tort Law; H.
Koziol. Element of Wrongfulness in South African Law of Delict; J.
Neethling.Wrongfulness under English Tort Law; W.V. Horton Rogers.Wrongfulness
in the Dutch Context; J. Spier. Le `Wrongfulness' en Droit
français;
G. Viney. The Concept of `Unlawfulness' - Function and Relevance
under Swiss Law; P. Widmer. Conclusions; H. Koziol.
November 1998, 152 pp., Hardbound
ISBN/ISSN: 9041110194
Price:NLG 85.00/USD 46.00/GBP 29.00
PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN TORT LAW 3
