Study On Product Liability

"Product liability" is defined as a special legal system deriving from the modern culture and booming commerce and industry, which is also the most important part of consumers' interest and right. Following the booming commerce and industry, people' s living standard has been promoted accordingly. In order to cope with the demand, types of commodities and innovative technology are growing increasingly. Nevertheless, given that the commodities are put into mass production for sale, how victims claims damages against the manufacturer for any defects or flaws in the safety of products caused by the designer' s or manufacturer' s inadvertence and injuring the victims' body or property? And what is the legal relation among distributors, importers and victims? What liability should be borne? Whether it is necessary to bear the liability jointly and severally? All of these issues remain solvable by the legal sector at this moment. For the time being, Mainland China has not enacted any individual lawsfor "product liability" . Nevertheless, there are provisions and laws related to product liability, e.g. Article 122 of the Civil Law: General Principles, Law of the People' s Republic of China on Product Quality and PRC Consumer Protection Law. Because the legislation lacks integrity, some dispute and controversies are likely to arise from the applicability of the laws. Therefore, it is necessary to harmonize the difference and conflict therein and pass amendments to laws to enforce the laws judicially, to enable consumers' or users' interest and right to be protected lawfully.In Taiwan, the provisions related to "product liability" are primarily provided in Article 191-1 of the Civil Code and Consumer' s Protection Law. In terms of the applicability of common laws and special laws, the Consumer' s Protection Law shall prevail over the Civil Code. However, given that the object, subject and "defects" applicable to product liability and grounds for principles governing imposition of liability vary in cross-Strait, the relations between concerned parties and burden of proof as to damages vary accordingly. Following the intensive economic and trading transactions in cross-Strait, product liability-related problems arising in Taiwan from products made in Mainland China or in Mainland China from products made in Taiwan are nothing new. However, the provisions as to product liability were not enacted until after 2000 in cross-Strait and enacted individually in the two territories subject to their own need by referring to empirical experience and legislative systems in Europe and the U.S.A.. Given the different politic background in cross-Strait for the time being, the experience and demand in social economy, . industrial system andconsumers' awareness are different relatively. Therefore, there must be some difference existing in the legislative system as to product liability in cross-Strait. Particularly, with respect to the principles governing imposition of product liability, the definitions of requirements about subjects and objects of the liability are different indeed. In order to meet the intensive demand of cross-Strait people' s economic and trading transactions and to protect cross-Strait consumers' interest and right, the study on the legal system as to product liability in cross-Strait has been getting more and more important.This study tries to divide product liability into two major parts by means of the comparative law. The first part is to explore and compare objects (scope of applicability), defects in products, subjects (only the subject to which the liability should be attributed). Then, the second part is to study the principles governing imposition of product liability. Both parts firstly discusses about the legislations and status of development as to product liability systems applicable in cross-Strait that were established by referring to the product liability systems in Europe, the U. S. A. and Japan, and then compares the scope of product liability and principles governing imposition of product liability applied in the territories of Mainland and Taiwan, in hopes of providing new ideas and suggestions towards well-founded legislations of product liability in cross-Strait.