Syllabus query



Academic Year/course: 2019/20

8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences

31673 - Advanced course on tort law


Teaching Guide Information

Academic Course:
2019/20
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences
Subject:
31673 - Advanced course on tort law
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Teachers:
Rosa Mila Rafel, Sonia Ramos Gonzalez
Teaching Period:
Second Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

This course focuses on European Products Liability and Products Safety. US materials will be considered, too.

Prerequisites

An undergraduate course on Tort Law is strongly recommended.

Contents

Programme

1. Statutes on Product Liability of the European Union (Directive 85/374 amended by the Directive 1999/34) and of some European Union State Members (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
2. Statutes on Product Safety of the European Union (Directive 2001/95) and of some European State Members (Germany and Spain)
3. Case Law of the European Court of Justice on products liability (1997-2009)
4. Some Regulatory Agencies on Product Liability and Safety (European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection -DG SANCO-) and some other national Agencies (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
5. Concept of product
6. Concept of defective product

6.1. Manufacturing defect

6.2. Design defect

6.3. Failure to warn

7. Concept of safe product

8. Recalls and withdrawals
9. Introduction to RAPEX (Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products)

10. Potential defendants

10.1. Manufacturer of a finished product

10.2. Manufacturer of a raw material

10.3. Manufacturer of a component part

10.4. Importer

10.5. Dealer

10.6. Insurer

11. Potential Plaintiffs

11.1. Consumers

11.2. Bystanders

11.3. Workers

11.4. Companies

12. Joint and Several Liability

13. Contribution or Reimbursement

14. Comparative Negligence

15. Defenses

15.1. Manufacturer did not distribute the product

15.2. According to the circumstances, it is likely that the defect did not exist at the time of distribution

15.3. The product was not manufactured for sale or any other form of distribution

15.4. Compliance with mandatory regulations

15.5. State of the Art Defense

16. Harms covered (death or bodily injury and damage to private property) and not covered (pain and suffering and economic loss) by the Directive 85/374.

17. Statute of Limitations (Section 10 Directive 85/374) and Statute of Repose (Section 11 Directive 85/374)

18. Products Liability and Barriers to Entry

19. Law Applicable to Products Liability: Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 (Rome II)

20. Alternative Dispute Resolution

20.1. Arbitration

20.2. Mediation

20.3. Out of Court Settlement

 

 

Sessions

 

Session 1 

 

Contents: Main characteristics of Directive 85/374/ECC, July 25th, on products liability and the extent of the harmonization achieved by the European legislator.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia 

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), April 25, 2002, C-183/00, María Victoria González Sánchez v. Medicina Asturiana, S.A.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber), November 20, 2014, C-310/13, Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH v. S.

 

Session 2

 

Contents: Concept of Product. Information as a product. Product and Service.

 

Readings:

Jane Stapleton, "Software, Information and the Concept of 'Product'" 89 Tel Aviv Studies in Law 147 (1989).

Winter v. Putnam's Sons (938 F.2d 1033 (9th Cir. 1991).

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia France, Ace Europe

 

Session 3

 

Contents: Strict liability and the concept of defect. Manufacturing Defect.

 

Readings:

Comments to Section 2 (b) of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

German Supreme Court Decision, May 9, 1995, NJW 1995, 2162.

Sections 11.14 through 11.18. Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2010. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1396369.

 

Session 4

 

Contents: Design Defect and Failure to warn defect 

 

Readings:

French Supreme Court Decision, January 24th, 2006 (Bull. civ. I 2006 no. 33, p. 31, Patient v. Aventis Pasteur MSD)

French Supreme Court Decision, March 3rd, 1998 (Bull. civ. I 1998 no. 95, p. 63, Case Scovazzo v. Les Laboratoires Léo).

James A. Henderson, Aaron D. Twerski, Drug Design Liability: Farewell to Comment K, Brooklyn Law School Legal Studies, Research Paper No. 409, April 201, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2600601

Comments to Section 2 (c) of of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

 

Session 5 

 

Contents: Recent developments on the concept of defect

 

Readings:

Spanish Supreme Court Decision, December 9th, 2010. Trilucent Breast Implants Case.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, March 5, 2015. Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH c. AOK Sachsen-Anhalt-DIe Gesundheitskasse (C-503/13) y c. Betriebskrankenkasse RWE (C- 504/13)

 

Session 6

 

Contents: Causation and burden of proof.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, June 21, 2017, N.W. et al. v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD SNC et al. (C-621/15)

Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, "Causation in Hepatitis B Vaccination Litigation in France: Breaking Through Scientific Uncertainty?", Chicago-Kent Law Review 2016, vol. 91:2, p. 543-566. 

 

Session 7

 

Contents: Potential defendants and plaintiffs

 

Readings:

Judgment the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), January 10, 2006,  C-402/03, Skov Æg v Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S and Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S v Jette Mikkelsen, Michael Due Nielsen

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, December 21, 2011, C-495/10, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Besançon v. Thomas Dutrueux, Caisse primaire d’assurance maladie du Jura.

 

Session 8

Contents: Joint and Several Liability. Contribution or Reimbursement. Comparative Negligence. Crashworthiness

 

Readings:

D’Amario v. Ford Motor Co. [806 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 2001)]

 

Session 9: 

 

Contents: Defenses. In particular, State of the Art Defense.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 10, 2001, C-203/99, Henning Veedfald v Århus Amtskommune

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 29, 1997, C-300/95, Commission of the European Communities v. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

 

Session 10

 

Contents: Time restrictions on claiming and time of commercialization

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), February 9, 2006, C-127/04, Declan O'Byrne v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD Ltd, Sanofi Pasteur SA.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), December 2, 2009, C-358-08, Aventis Pasteur S.A. c. OB

 

Session 11

 

Contents: Product Safety and Product Liability. US Preemption Doctrine. 

 

Readings:

Main material: Schmitt v. TÜV Reihnland (P.I.P. Implants case), February 16, 2017

Supplementary material:

Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312 (2008), February 20, 2008

Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009), March 4, 2009

Pliva, Inc., et. al. v. Mensing (567 U.S._2011) June 23, 2011

Bruesewitz et al. v. Wyeth LLC et al., 562 U.S. _(2011), February 22, 2011

 

Session 12

 

Contents: Autonomous Vehicles 

 

Readings: 

Main material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "A Roadmap for Autonomous Vehicles: State Tort Liability, Automobile Insurance, and Federal Safety Regulation", 105 Calif. L. Rev. 1611 (2018)

Supplementary material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "The Regulatory Sweet Spot for Autonomous Vehicles", 53 Wake Forest Law Review (Forthcoming). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 18-29 (2018, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3172208)

 

Teaching Methods

Class discussion will be based on the analysis of selected materials. Students should be ready to comment on the materials from comparative and law and economics approaches.

A minimum of 4 hours of out-of-class student work per week should be spent to prepare each class.

Evaluation

Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

The take-home exam will consist of essay-questions. Students will be required to answer them using the “IRAC” method: Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion.

Additionally, class participation will be taken into account.

In case of having failed the first evaluation the student will be able to be re-evaluated again. Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

Bibliography and information resources

  • Rodrigo Bercovitz Rodríguez-Cano (Dir.), Comentario del Texto Refundido de la Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios y otras Leyes, 2nd ed.Thomson-Aranzadi, Cizur-Menor (Navarra), 2015
  • Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, Simon WhittakerCivil Liability in Comparative Perspective, Hart Publishing, Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law, 2019. 
  • Duncan Fairgrieve, Product Liability in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2005, online edition 2009 (https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511493850). 
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2009. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com.
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, Product Liability Law, Wolters Kluwer - Aspen, New York, 2012.
  • James A. Henderson, Jr. and Aaron D. Twerski, Products Liability: Problems and Process, 8th ed., Wolters Kluwer – Aspen, New York, 2016.
  • Geraint Howells, “Product Liability and the European Tort Landscape”, Reiner Shulze (Ed.), in Compensation of Private Losses, Sellier, 2011, pp. 69 ff.
  • Geraint Howells, David A. Owen, “Products Liability law in America and Europe”, in Geraint Howells, Iain Ramsay, Thomas Wilhelmsson, “Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law”, Edward Elgar Press, 2010, 224-255.
  • Hans Josef Kullmann, Produkthaftungsgesetz. Gesetz über die Haftung für fehlerhafte Produkte (ProdHaftG). Kommentar, 6. Auflage, Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co., Berlín, 2010.
  • Michael Molitoris und Thomas Klindt, Die Entwicklung im Produkthaftungs- und Produktsicherheitsrecht, NJW 21/2012, 1489.
  • Helmut Koziol, Michael Green, 
  • A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, “The Uneasy Case for Product Liability”, 123 Harv. L. Rev. 1437 (2010). Available at http://www.harvardlawreview.org/index.php.
  • John C.P. Goldberg, Benjamin C.  Zipursky, “The Easy Case for Products Liability: A Response to Professors Polinsky and Shavell, 123 Harvard Law Review 1919 (2010).
  • Steven Shavell, A. Mitchell Polinsky, “A Skeptical Attitude about Product Liability Is Justified: a Reply to Professors Goldberg and Zipursky”, 123 Harvard Law Review 1949 (2010).
  • Pablo Salvador Coderch y Fernando Gómez Pomar (Coord.), Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2008. [See also the 2009 Supplement: Pablo Salvador Coderch, Fernando Gómez Pomar y Sonia Ramos González (Coord.), Apéndice 2009 al Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2010.]
  • Gerhard Wagner, “Kommentar zum Produkthaftungsgesetz”, in Mathias Habersack (Redakteur), Münchener Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch, Band 5 – Schuldrecht • Besonderer Teil III, 6. Auflage, C.H. Beck, München, 2012.
  • Simon Whittaker (Ed.), The Development of Product Liability, Vol. 1, in David Ibbetson, John Bell (Eds.), Comparative Studies in the Development of the Law of Torts in Europe, Cambridge (GBR): Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Simon Whittaker, Liability for Products: English Law, French Law and European Harmonisation, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • TortsProf Blog, Products Liability: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/

 

European Court of Justice Case Law


Academic Year/course: 2019/20

8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences

31673 - Advanced course on tort law


Informació de la Guia Docent

Academic Course:
2019/20
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences
Subject:
31673 - Advanced course on tort law
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Teachers:
Rosa Mila Rafel, Sonia Ramos Gonzalez
Teaching Period:
Second Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

This course focuses on European Products Liability and Products Safety. US materials will be considered, too.

Prerequisites

An undergraduate course on Tort Law is strongly recommended.

Contents

Programme

1. Statutes on Product Liability of the European Union (Directive 85/374 amended by the Directive 1999/34) and of some European Union State Members (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
2. Statutes on Product Safety of the European Union (Directive 2001/95) and of some European State Members (Germany and Spain)
3. Case Law of the European Court of Justice on products liability (1997-2009)
4. Some Regulatory Agencies on Product Liability and Safety (European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection -DG SANCO-) and some other national Agencies (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
5. Concept of product
6. Concept of defective product

6.1. Manufacturing defect

6.2. Design defect

6.3. Failure to warn

7. Concept of safe product

8. Recalls and withdrawals
9. Introduction to RAPEX (Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products)

10. Potential defendants

10.1. Manufacturer of a finished product

10.2. Manufacturer of a raw material

10.3. Manufacturer of a component part

10.4. Importer

10.5. Dealer

10.6. Insurer

11. Potential Plaintiffs

11.1. Consumers

11.2. Bystanders

11.3. Workers

11.4. Companies

12. Joint and Several Liability

13. Contribution or Reimbursement

14. Comparative Negligence

15. Defenses

15.1. Manufacturer did not distribute the product

15.2. According to the circumstances, it is likely that the defect did not exist at the time of distribution

15.3. The product was not manufactured for sale or any other form of distribution

15.4. Compliance with mandatory regulations

15.5. State of the Art Defense

16. Harms covered (death or bodily injury and damage to private property) and not covered (pain and suffering and economic loss) by the Directive 85/374.

17. Statute of Limitations (Section 10 Directive 85/374) and Statute of Repose (Section 11 Directive 85/374)

18. Products Liability and Barriers to Entry

19. Law Applicable to Products Liability: Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 (Rome II)

20. Alternative Dispute Resolution

20.1. Arbitration

20.2. Mediation

20.3. Out of Court Settlement

 

 

Sessions

 

Session 1 

 

Contents: Main characteristics of Directive 85/374/ECC, July 25th, on products liability and the extent of the harmonization achieved by the European legislator.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia 

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), April 25, 2002, C-183/00, María Victoria González Sánchez v. Medicina Asturiana, S.A.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber), November 20, 2014, C-310/13, Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH v. S.

 

Session 2

 

Contents: Concept of Product. Information as a product. Product and Service.

 

Readings:

Jane Stapleton, "Software, Information and the Concept of 'Product'" 89 Tel Aviv Studies in Law 147 (1989).

Winter v. Putnam's Sons (938 F.2d 1033 (9th Cir. 1991).

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia France, Ace Europe

 

Session 3

 

Contents: Strict liability and the concept of defect. Manufacturing Defect.

 

Readings:

Comments to Section 2 (b) of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

German Supreme Court Decision, May 9, 1995, NJW 1995, 2162.

Sections 11.14 through 11.18. Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2010. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1396369.

 

Session 4

 

Contents: Design Defect and Failure to warn defect 

 

Readings:

French Supreme Court Decision, January 24th, 2006 (Bull. civ. I 2006 no. 33, p. 31, Patient v. Aventis Pasteur MSD)

French Supreme Court Decision, March 3rd, 1998 (Bull. civ. I 1998 no. 95, p. 63, Case Scovazzo v. Les Laboratoires Léo).

James A. Henderson, Aaron D. Twerski, Drug Design Liability: Farewell to Comment K, Brooklyn Law School Legal Studies, Research Paper No. 409, April 201, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2600601

Comments to Section 2 (c) of of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

 

Session 5 

 

Contents: Recent developments on the concept of defect

 

Readings:

Spanish Supreme Court Decision, December 9th, 2010. Trilucent Breast Implants Case.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, March 5, 2015. Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH c. AOK Sachsen-Anhalt-DIe Gesundheitskasse (C-503/13) y c. Betriebskrankenkasse RWE (C- 504/13)

 

Session 6

 

Contents: Causation and burden of proof.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, June 21, 2017, N.W. et al. v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD SNC et al. (C-621/15)

Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, "Causation in Hepatitis B Vaccination Litigation in France: Breaking Through Scientific Uncertainty?", Chicago-Kent Law Review 2016, vol. 91:2, p. 543-566. 

 

Session 7

 

Contents: Potential defendants and plaintiffs

 

Readings:

Judgment the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), January 10, 2006,  C-402/03, Skov Æg v Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S and Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S v Jette Mikkelsen, Michael Due Nielsen

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, December 21, 2011, C-495/10, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Besançon v. Thomas Dutrueux, Caisse primaire d’assurance maladie du Jura.

 

Session 8

Contents: Joint and Several Liability. Contribution or Reimbursement. Comparative Negligence. Crashworthiness

 

Readings:

D’Amario v. Ford Motor Co. [806 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 2001)]

 

Session 9: 

 

Contents: Defenses. In particular, State of the Art Defense.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 10, 2001, C-203/99, Henning Veedfald v Århus Amtskommune

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 29, 1997, C-300/95, Commission of the European Communities v. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

 

Session 10

 

Contents: Time restrictions on claiming and time of commercialization

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), February 9, 2006, C-127/04, Declan O'Byrne v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD Ltd, Sanofi Pasteur SA.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), December 2, 2009, C-358-08, Aventis Pasteur S.A. c. OB

 

Session 11

 

Contents: Product Safety and Product Liability. US Preemption Doctrine. 

 

Readings:

Main material: Schmitt v. TÜV Reihnland (P.I.P. Implants case), February 16, 2017

Supplementary material:

Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312 (2008), February 20, 2008

Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009), March 4, 2009

Pliva, Inc., et. al. v. Mensing (567 U.S._2011) June 23, 2011

Bruesewitz et al. v. Wyeth LLC et al., 562 U.S. _(2011), February 22, 2011

 

Session 12

 

Contents: Autonomous Vehicles 

 

Readings: 

Main material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "A Roadmap for Autonomous Vehicles: State Tort Liability, Automobile Insurance, and Federal Safety Regulation", 105 Calif. L. Rev. 1611 (2018)

Supplementary material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "The Regulatory Sweet Spot for Autonomous Vehicles", 53 Wake Forest Law Review (Forthcoming). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 18-29 (2018, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3172208)

 

Teaching Methods

Class discussion will be based on the analysis of selected materials. Students should be ready to comment on the materials from comparative and law and economics approaches.

A minimum of 4 hours of out-of-class student work per week should be spent to prepare each class.

Evaluation

Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

The take-home exam will consist of essay-questions. Students will be required to answer them using the “IRAC” method: Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion.

Additionally, class participation will be taken into account.

In case of having failed the first evaluation the student will be able to be re-evaluated again. Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

Bibliography and information resources

  • Rodrigo Bercovitz Rodríguez-Cano (Dir.), Comentario del Texto Refundido de la Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios y otras Leyes, 2nd ed.Thomson-Aranzadi, Cizur-Menor (Navarra), 2015
  • Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, Simon WhittakerCivil Liability in Comparative Perspective, Hart Publishing, Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law, 2019. 
  • Duncan Fairgrieve, Product Liability in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2005, online edition 2009 (https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511493850). 
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2009. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com.
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, Product Liability Law, Wolters Kluwer - Aspen, New York, 2012.
  • James A. Henderson, Jr. and Aaron D. Twerski, Products Liability: Problems and Process, 8th ed., Wolters Kluwer – Aspen, New York, 2016.
  • Geraint Howells, “Product Liability and the European Tort Landscape”, Reiner Shulze (Ed.), in Compensation of Private Losses, Sellier, 2011, pp. 69 ff.
  • Geraint Howells, David A. Owen, “Products Liability law in America and Europe”, in Geraint Howells, Iain Ramsay, Thomas Wilhelmsson, “Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law”, Edward Elgar Press, 2010, 224-255.
  • Hans Josef Kullmann, Produkthaftungsgesetz. Gesetz über die Haftung für fehlerhafte Produkte (ProdHaftG). Kommentar, 6. Auflage, Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co., Berlín, 2010.
  • Michael Molitoris und Thomas Klindt, Die Entwicklung im Produkthaftungs- und Produktsicherheitsrecht, NJW 21/2012, 1489.
  • Helmut Koziol, Michael Green, 
  • A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, “The Uneasy Case for Product Liability”, 123 Harv. L. Rev. 1437 (2010). Available at http://www.harvardlawreview.org/index.php.
  • John C.P. Goldberg, Benjamin C.  Zipursky, “The Easy Case for Products Liability: A Response to Professors Polinsky and Shavell, 123 Harvard Law Review 1919 (2010).
  • Steven Shavell, A. Mitchell Polinsky, “A Skeptical Attitude about Product Liability Is Justified: a Reply to Professors Goldberg and Zipursky”, 123 Harvard Law Review 1949 (2010).
  • Pablo Salvador Coderch y Fernando Gómez Pomar (Coord.), Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2008. [See also the 2009 Supplement: Pablo Salvador Coderch, Fernando Gómez Pomar y Sonia Ramos González (Coord.), Apéndice 2009 al Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2010.]
  • Gerhard Wagner, “Kommentar zum Produkthaftungsgesetz”, in Mathias Habersack (Redakteur), Münchener Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch, Band 5 – Schuldrecht • Besonderer Teil III, 6. Auflage, C.H. Beck, München, 2012.
  • Simon Whittaker (Ed.), The Development of Product Liability, Vol. 1, in David Ibbetson, John Bell (Eds.), Comparative Studies in the Development of the Law of Torts in Europe, Cambridge (GBR): Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Simon Whittaker, Liability for Products: English Law, French Law and European Harmonisation, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • TortsProf Blog, Products Liability: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/

 

European Court of Justice Case Law


Academic Year/course: 2019/20

8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences

31673 - Advanced course on tort law


Información de la Guía Docente

Academic Course:
2019/20
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences
Subject:
31673 - Advanced course on tort law
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Teachers:
Rosa Mila Rafel, Sonia Ramos Gonzalez
Teaching Period:
Second Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

This course focuses on European Products Liability and Products Safety. US materials will be considered, too.

Prerequisites

An undergraduate course on Tort Law is strongly recommended.

Contents

Programme

1. Statutes on Product Liability of the European Union (Directive 85/374 amended by the Directive 1999/34) and of some European Union State Members (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
2. Statutes on Product Safety of the European Union (Directive 2001/95) and of some European State Members (Germany and Spain)
3. Case Law of the European Court of Justice on products liability (1997-2009)
4. Some Regulatory Agencies on Product Liability and Safety (European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection -DG SANCO-) and some other national Agencies (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain)
5. Concept of product
6. Concept of defective product

6.1. Manufacturing defect

6.2. Design defect

6.3. Failure to warn

7. Concept of safe product

8. Recalls and withdrawals
9. Introduction to RAPEX (Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products)

10. Potential defendants

10.1. Manufacturer of a finished product

10.2. Manufacturer of a raw material

10.3. Manufacturer of a component part

10.4. Importer

10.5. Dealer

10.6. Insurer

11. Potential Plaintiffs

11.1. Consumers

11.2. Bystanders

11.3. Workers

11.4. Companies

12. Joint and Several Liability

13. Contribution or Reimbursement

14. Comparative Negligence

15. Defenses

15.1. Manufacturer did not distribute the product

15.2. According to the circumstances, it is likely that the defect did not exist at the time of distribution

15.3. The product was not manufactured for sale or any other form of distribution

15.4. Compliance with mandatory regulations

15.5. State of the Art Defense

16. Harms covered (death or bodily injury and damage to private property) and not covered (pain and suffering and economic loss) by the Directive 85/374.

17. Statute of Limitations (Section 10 Directive 85/374) and Statute of Repose (Section 11 Directive 85/374)

18. Products Liability and Barriers to Entry

19. Law Applicable to Products Liability: Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 (Rome II)

20. Alternative Dispute Resolution

20.1. Arbitration

20.2. Mediation

20.3. Out of Court Settlement

 

 

Sessions

 

Session 1 

 

Contents: Main characteristics of Directive 85/374/ECC, July 25th, on products liability and the extent of the harmonization achieved by the European legislator.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia 

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), April 25, 2002, C-183/00, María Victoria González Sánchez v. Medicina Asturiana, S.A.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber), November 20, 2014, C-310/13, Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH v. S.

 

Session 2

 

Contents: Concept of Product. Information as a product. Product and Service.

 

Readings:

Jane Stapleton, "Software, Information and the Concept of 'Product'" 89 Tel Aviv Studies in Law 147 (1989).

Winter v. Putnam's Sons (938 F.2d 1033 (9th Cir. 1991).

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), June 4, 2009, C-285/08, Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Dalkia France, Ace Europe

 

Session 3

 

Contents: Strict liability and the concept of defect. Manufacturing Defect.

 

Readings:

Comments to Section 2 (b) of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

German Supreme Court Decision, May 9, 1995, NJW 1995, 2162.

Sections 11.14 through 11.18. Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2010. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1396369.

 

Session 4

 

Contents: Design Defect and Failure to warn defect 

 

Readings:

French Supreme Court Decision, January 24th, 2006 (Bull. civ. I 2006 no. 33, p. 31, Patient v. Aventis Pasteur MSD)

French Supreme Court Decision, March 3rd, 1998 (Bull. civ. I 1998 no. 95, p. 63, Case Scovazzo v. Les Laboratoires Léo).

James A. Henderson, Aaron D. Twerski, Drug Design Liability: Farewell to Comment K, Brooklyn Law School Legal Studies, Research Paper No. 409, April 201, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2600601

Comments to Section 2 (c) of of the Restatement of the Law of Torts: Products Liability (1998)

 

Session 5 

 

Contents: Recent developments on the concept of defect

 

Readings:

Spanish Supreme Court Decision, December 9th, 2010. Trilucent Breast Implants Case.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, March 5, 2015. Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH c. AOK Sachsen-Anhalt-DIe Gesundheitskasse (C-503/13) y c. Betriebskrankenkasse RWE (C- 504/13)

 

Session 6

 

Contents: Causation and burden of proof.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, June 21, 2017, N.W. et al. v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD SNC et al. (C-621/15)

Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, "Causation in Hepatitis B Vaccination Litigation in France: Breaking Through Scientific Uncertainty?", Chicago-Kent Law Review 2016, vol. 91:2, p. 543-566. 

 

Session 7

 

Contents: Potential defendants and plaintiffs

 

Readings:

Judgment the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), January 10, 2006,  C-402/03, Skov Æg v Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S and Bilka Lavprisvarehus A/S v Jette Mikkelsen, Michael Due Nielsen

Judgment of the European Court of Justice, December 21, 2011, C-495/10, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Besançon v. Thomas Dutrueux, Caisse primaire d’assurance maladie du Jura.

 

Session 8

Contents: Joint and Several Liability. Contribution or Reimbursement. Comparative Negligence. Crashworthiness

 

Readings:

D’Amario v. Ford Motor Co. [806 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 2001)]

 

Session 9: 

 

Contents: Defenses. In particular, State of the Art Defense.

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 10, 2001, C-203/99, Henning Veedfald v Århus Amtskommune

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber), May 29, 1997, C-300/95, Commission of the European Communities v. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

 

Session 10

 

Contents: Time restrictions on claiming and time of commercialization

 

Readings:

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (First Chamber), February 9, 2006, C-127/04, Declan O'Byrne v. Sanofi Pasteur MSD Ltd, Sanofi Pasteur SA.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), December 2, 2009, C-358-08, Aventis Pasteur S.A. c. OB

 

Session 11

 

Contents: Product Safety and Product Liability. US Preemption Doctrine. 

 

Readings:

Main material: Schmitt v. TÜV Reihnland (P.I.P. Implants case), February 16, 2017

Supplementary material:

Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312 (2008), February 20, 2008

Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009), March 4, 2009

Pliva, Inc., et. al. v. Mensing (567 U.S._2011) June 23, 2011

Bruesewitz et al. v. Wyeth LLC et al., 562 U.S. _(2011), February 22, 2011

 

Session 12

 

Contents: Autonomous Vehicles 

 

Readings: 

Main material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "A Roadmap for Autonomous Vehicles: State Tort Liability, Automobile Insurance, and Federal Safety Regulation", 105 Calif. L. Rev. 1611 (2018)

Supplementary material: Mark A. Geistfeld, "The Regulatory Sweet Spot for Autonomous Vehicles", 53 Wake Forest Law Review (Forthcoming). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 18-29 (2018, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3172208)

 

Teaching Methods

Class discussion will be based on the analysis of selected materials. Students should be ready to comment on the materials from comparative and law and economics approaches.

A minimum of 4 hours of out-of-class student work per week should be spent to prepare each class.

Evaluation

Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

The take-home exam will consist of essay-questions. Students will be required to answer them using the “IRAC” method: Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion.

Additionally, class participation will be taken into account.

In case of having failed the first evaluation the student will be able to be re-evaluated again. Grading will be based on a take-home exam.

Bibliography and information resources

  • Rodrigo Bercovitz Rodríguez-Cano (Dir.), Comentario del Texto Refundido de la Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios y otras Leyes, 2nd ed.Thomson-Aranzadi, Cizur-Menor (Navarra), 2015
  • Jean-Sébastien Borghetti, Simon WhittakerCivil Liability in Comparative Perspective, Hart Publishing, Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law, 2019. 
  • Duncan Fairgrieve, Product Liability in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge University Press, 2005, online edition 2009 (https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511493850). 
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, “Products Liability”, Michael Faure (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, 2nd. ed., Vol. 1: Tort Law and Economics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK) - Northampton (MA), 2009. On-line version available at http://papers.ssrn.com.
  • Mark A. Geistfeld, Product Liability Law, Wolters Kluwer - Aspen, New York, 2012.
  • James A. Henderson, Jr. and Aaron D. Twerski, Products Liability: Problems and Process, 8th ed., Wolters Kluwer – Aspen, New York, 2016.
  • Geraint Howells, “Product Liability and the European Tort Landscape”, Reiner Shulze (Ed.), in Compensation of Private Losses, Sellier, 2011, pp. 69 ff.
  • Geraint Howells, David A. Owen, “Products Liability law in America and Europe”, in Geraint Howells, Iain Ramsay, Thomas Wilhelmsson, “Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law”, Edward Elgar Press, 2010, 224-255.
  • Hans Josef Kullmann, Produkthaftungsgesetz. Gesetz über die Haftung für fehlerhafte Produkte (ProdHaftG). Kommentar, 6. Auflage, Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co., Berlín, 2010.
  • Michael Molitoris und Thomas Klindt, Die Entwicklung im Produkthaftungs- und Produktsicherheitsrecht, NJW 21/2012, 1489.
  • Helmut Koziol, Michael Green, 
  • A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, “The Uneasy Case for Product Liability”, 123 Harv. L. Rev. 1437 (2010). Available at http://www.harvardlawreview.org/index.php.
  • John C.P. Goldberg, Benjamin C.  Zipursky, “The Easy Case for Products Liability: A Response to Professors Polinsky and Shavell, 123 Harvard Law Review 1919 (2010).
  • Steven Shavell, A. Mitchell Polinsky, “A Skeptical Attitude about Product Liability Is Justified: a Reply to Professors Goldberg and Zipursky”, 123 Harvard Law Review 1949 (2010).
  • Pablo Salvador Coderch y Fernando Gómez Pomar (Coord.), Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2008. [See also the 2009 Supplement: Pablo Salvador Coderch, Fernando Gómez Pomar y Sonia Ramos González (Coord.), Apéndice 2009 al Tratado de Responsabilidad Civil del Fabricante, Thomson-Civitas, Cizur Menor (Navarra), 2010.]
  • Gerhard Wagner, “Kommentar zum Produkthaftungsgesetz”, in Mathias Habersack (Redakteur), Münchener Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch, Band 5 – Schuldrecht • Besonderer Teil III, 6. Auflage, C.H. Beck, München, 2012.
  • Simon Whittaker (Ed.), The Development of Product Liability, Vol. 1, in David Ibbetson, John Bell (Eds.), Comparative Studies in the Development of the Law of Torts in Europe, Cambridge (GBR): Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Simon Whittaker, Liability for Products: English Law, French Law and European Harmonisation, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • TortsProf Blog, Products Liability: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/

 

European Court of Justice Case Law