On The Compensation Of Product Liability

Product liability first appeared in British legal precedents as a legal problem in the mid 19th centuries, and has evolved gradually into a relatively independent legal field. Since the 20th century,big enterprises and companies have predominated in social economic life; division of labor in society has been further elaborated; the scientific and technological content of product has increased greatly. Particularly since World War II, commodity production has developed rapidly; technology has progressed a lot; division of labor is highly elaborate; there are more and more kinds of products; functions of products increase rapidly; product structures are increasingly complicated. All these lead to the increase of the danger of product, and liability accidents due to the defect of product are endless. As a special liability, product liability is created with the ultimate aim of offering effective legal relief to victims of product and maintaining the market order. Therefore, issues of damages concerning product liability are an indispensible aspect of the system of product liability. In product liability, a liability subject of damages refers to a natural person, a legal person or other economic organizations that ought to bear legal liability to pay compensation when his defect product has caused the user's or consumer's bodily injury or property loss. The range of liability subject is very large, covering the servant, the leasor of licence and other subjects in addition to the producer and the seller. Product liability is a special liability for tort and the liability suject bears his liability only on condition that a product has defects actually, the defect product causes victim's bodily injury or property loss, and there is causality between the defect product and the victim's bodily injury or property loss. Once the liability is tenable, damages cover bodily injury, property loss and spirit damage. Although China has set up the law system of product liability, the legal system of damages still needs to be further improved: the double judging standards for defect products have some drawbacks; product loss and means of relief should be elaborated in the legislation of product liability; the system of compensation for spirit damage needs to be further improved legislatively and a punishing system of damages set up.