DEVELOPMENT RISKS DEFENSE Cover Image

ОДГОВОРНОСТ ЗА РАЗВОЈНЕ РИЗИКЕ
DEVELOPMENT RISKS DEFENSE

Author(s): Marija Karanikić Mirić
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Business Economy / Management
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду
Keywords: Strict liability; Liability for defective products; Development risks; Undiscoverable defects;

Summary/Abstract: The development risks clause (as in the Directive 85/374/EEC) excludes liability for damage caused by a defect that could not be foreseen given the technical and scientific knowledge available at the time the product was developed. This provision was defined with the intention to establish a satisfactory compromise between the need to stimulate innovation and consumers' legitimate expectations for safer products. The European Court of Justice interpreted this clause in the following way: the producer of a defective product is absolved of liability if he can establish that the objective state of technical and scientific knowledge at the time when he put the product into circulation was not such as to enable the existence of the defect to be discovered. This includes the most advanced level of accessible knowledge, without any restriction as to the industrial sector concerned. One of the crucial arguments of the debate on the development risks is that removing this provision would suppress innovation.

  • Issue Year: 53/2005
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 161-195
  • Page Count: 35
  • Language: Serbian