Product Liability Study

Products liability arises from the damages done to someone or thek propertybecause of the defects in the product. The system of products liability has been theresult of the advance of science and the development of modem industry. Duringthe early times, products liability was limited to the parties of a contract. With thedevelopment of the society, products liability went beyond the limitation of thecontract and gradually became the liability within the scope of torts. In MacPhsonv. Buick Motor Co. in 1916, the New York Court of Appeals established theproducts liability in negligence. To reduce the plaintiffs burden of proof, the UScourts applied warranty at the same time. In Greenman v. Yuba Power Products,Inc. in 1963, the Califomia court applied the strict liability in which the plaintiffhad neither the need to prove the existence of expressed warranty nor the existenceof the fault of the defendant. The component parts of products liability are thedefects of the product, the damages and the causal relationship between the defectsand the damages. Negligence is no longer the component part of products liability.With the development of the system of products liability, the scope of the plaintiffsand the defendants has been expanded gradually. At the same time, defenses of thedefendants are stipulated in the law. Since 1980, China has adopted all kinds oflaws stipulating products liability. These laws have played an important role in oursocial life. Nonetheless, compared with the developed countries, these laws are farfrom perfect and there is still room for improvement.In this thesis, the author, by reference to the stipulations in products liabilityin some foreign countries, makes an analysis on the concept of products liability,the standard to impose liability, the component parts of products liability, theplaintiffs, the defendants and the defenses. At the end of the thesis, the authorproposes some suggestions conceming the perfection of the system of productsliability in our country. The thesis is divided into five parts:The first part: the standards to impose products liability. The standard toimpose products liability is of great importance to impose products liability on thedefendant. After products liability became the liability in tort, negligence was the standard to impose liability and the strict liability became the standard to imposeliability in the USA, France and Germany. Strict liability keeps developingnowadays. The author makes a general description of the concept and thedevelopment of the standards to impose products liability and analyses thestandards to impose products liability in China.The second part: an analysis on the component parts of products liability. Inthis part, the author makes an analysis on the concept of the product in productsliability law and the concept of defects in the products and the standards todetermine a defect, points out the shortcoming in the standards to determine adefect in our country and proposes suggestions to eliminate this shortcoming. Thedefects are divided into three types. In this part, the author makes an analysis onthe damages, especially on the conflict between the liability arising from torts andthe liability arising from breach of contract, the mental distress and the damage ofthe product itself. In the discussion of the causal relationship between the defectand the damages, a general description is given to the generally accepted rulesgoverning the establishment the causal relationship both in the United States andthe European countries. The particularities in the causal relationship in casesconcerning products liability are paid special attention to.The third part: the plaintiffs and the defendants. The author makes ananalysis on both the plaintiffs and the defendants and proposes suggestions to clearthe scope of the plaintiffs and the defendants.The fourth part: defenses. The products liability should not only provideprotection for the plaintiffs but also for the defendants. Claiming defenses is oneway to protect the defendants. In this thesis, the author makes a general analysis onall kinds of defenses and proposes suggestions to perfect the system of defenses inproducts liability cases.The fifth part: plans on the perfection of the system of products liability lawin our country. The author proposes plans to make the system of products liabilitylaw more perfect. The author suggests that the system of punitive damage beintroduced into products liability law in China.