The Common European law of torts. Volume Two. Damage and damages, liability for and without personal misconduct, causality, and defences

Book abstract:

This book is the second of a two-volume treatise on the law of non-contractual obligations. The result of a unique attempt to discover the common elements of the law of torts of all the Member States of the EU, it is founded on the belief that the approximation of European laws should not be left to the directives and regulations of Brussels alone. To this end, the author, von Bar, has undertaken a thorough detailed analysis of the relevant court rulings and academic writings of all the jurisdictions of the European Union to distil a common European law of torts. The insights gained from the comparative analysis also offer guidance to greater harmonisation in the future.

This second volume commences with a chapter on loss, damage, and damages, before proceeding with a detailed analysis of liability for breach of duty. The third chapter is devoted to strict liability, the fourth to causation and remoteness of damage, and the fifth to general defences.

This volume completes the pioneering work on tort law in all the jurisdictions of the European Union. This is the first book ever to cover a whole sector of private law in pan-European perspective, relying not on a country-by-country approach but rather developing an integrated system based predominantly on court practice. It will be of interest to scholars of the law of torts and comparative law, also those interested in European law more generally and the emerging common European private law in particular.

Christian von Bar is Professor of Law and the Founder and Director of the Institute of Private International and Comparative Law in the University of Osnabrück.