Is product liability still a global problem?

Abstract

Purpose

Almost 20 years ago one of the present authors wrote an article entitled “Product liability: a global problem”. The brief paper seeks to provide a summation of what has happened in the meantime.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is a brief discussion of the issues: the first section comments on products liability outside Europe and the final part concludes with an overview of what happened in the UK and Europe.

Findings

The article finds that the EU Directive's approach to strict liability has become the most common influence on law reform around the globe and that there is still much uncertainty in Europe and the USA as to what the law of product liability actually is.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates how, for the foreseeable future, businesses may continue to be most concerned about product liability exposure in the USA.

Citation

Fairgrieve, D. and Howells, G. (2007), "Is product liability still a global problem?", Managerial Law, Vol. 49 No. 1/2, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090550710759621