A Study Of The Burden Of Proof In Products Liability Litigation

In the legal relationship of product liability,the consumer is naturally in a relatively weaker position.The development of product liability from contract theory to strict liability reflects the tendency for strengthening the protection of the consumer.But even having reached the level of strict liability,as lacking the related professional knowledge,and impossibly accessing to the information of the manufacture and circulation of the product,for the consumer,or the user,it?s difficult to prove the existence of the specific defect in the product and the causal relation between the damage and the defect,which makes the compensation not to be got.The inversion of burden of proof only applies to circumstances in which there is a great disparity in the ability of producing evidence between the two parties.However,in product liability litigation,the manufacture,or the seller controls the manufacture,or the circulation information,while the consumer,or the user controls the information on the use of the product and the information on the process of the accident caused by the defective product,there isn?t a great disparity in the ability of producing evidence between the two parties.While unloading the burden of proof of the defectiveness and causal relationship,applying the inversion of burden of proof,makes the manufacture,or the seller bear excessive burden of proof.This will highly probably cause the manufacture,or the seller face excessive litigation and almost changes product liability from strict liability to absolute liability.The allocation of the burden of proof isn?t either this or that.More precise means shall be applied to adjust the allocation of the burden of proof in product liability litigation.Actually,the system of reducing burden of proof has been accompanying the development of product liability.For example,in the stage when product liability adopted fault liability principle,in Germany the prima facie was used to reduce the burden of proof of negligence,and in America res ipsa loquitur was used.In product liability litigation,compared with the inversion of burden of proof,reducing burden of proof could more precisely and equitably adjust the allocation the burden of proof between the two parties,contribute to discover the truth of the case,and could contribute to cut back use of “fuzzy fact” to judge the case.This article,through combing the development of product liability,the meaning of the burden of proof,as well as the theory of the allocation of the burden of proof,combined with the comparative study of the system of the reducing burden of proof in products liability litigation and the cases of products liability in United States,Germany,Japan,China Taiwan region,analyses the rationality of adopting the system of reducing burden of proof to solve the consumer's,or the user's difficulties in producing evidence,summarizes the principle of the system of reducing burden of proof and existing form,discuss the worthy of reference for our country.In addition to the "Introduction" and "Conclusion",this article is divided into four parts.The first part combs the process of products liability and the present situation.This part first introduce the development of product liability and the existing substantive law in United States,the European Union,Germany and Japan,and then analyzes the existing substantive law of product liability in our country.The second part is about the meaning of the burden of proof and the theory of allocation of the burden of proof.The third part is about the inversion burden of proof in products liability.This part first analyzes the meaning of the inversion of the burden of proof,and then introduces the produced reasons for the inversion of the burden of proof in the product liability litigation,and then,analyze if there are any regulations of the inversion of burden of proof in the existing law of china,in the last,elaborate the reasons why the inversion of the burden of proof should not be applied in products liability litigation.The fourth part is about reducing burden of proof in product liability.This part begins with the introduction and analysis of the system of reducing proof responsibility in products liability litigation and cases of products liability in the United States,Germany,Japan and region of Taiwan,and then compares the inversion of burden of proof with the reducing burden of proof,and then summarizes the principle of reducing burden of proof,the form of existence and types,in the last analyze the worthy of our reference.