Book Review: The Limits of Liability. Keeping the Floodgates Shut
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X9600300306 |
| Author | Peter Schlechtriem |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book
Reviews
J. Spier (ed.), The Limits
of
Liability. Keeping the Floodgates Shut, K1uwer
Law International, 1996, XIII +162 pages, paperback, Dfl. 100, £45, US$
70.
The book to be reviewed here shows formidable ambition and raises corresponding
expectations, since it attempts to deal with the most important, but also controversial
questions
of
tort law in one rather slim volume. In their 'preliminary observations', the
editors promise a comparative analysis of attempts to keep liability within reasonable
limits, and thus to 'tame' the principle of full compensation, by the use of various legal
concepts such as duty of care and 'Schutznorm', (theories of) causation and distinction
between different heads of damages. In addition, the prerequisites of liability, in
particular the issue of 'strict' or 'fault' liability and its bearing on recoverable damages,
are listed. In other words, all three criteria for circumscribing and limiting extra-con-
tractual liability and the interplay between them are to be analyzed: prerequisites
of
liability, especially fault or no-fault; protected interests, in particular whether these
should include purely economic interests or restrict protection to life, limb and property
only; and, finally, the amount of recoverable damages and the tools to exclude those
regarded as excessive and/or too remote. The authors have obviously followed a
matching questionnaire of topical issues. Readers' expectations are heightened by the
impressive list of eminent scholars who could be persuaded to contribute. The multiplic-
ity and variety of topics and problems touched upon, however, makes it difficult, if not
impossible, to do justice to this challenging scholarly exercise.
The book begins with the - already mentioned - 'preliminary observations' by V.H.
Rogers, J. Spier and G. Viney, who have also contributed the chapters on tort liability
in English common law (Rogers), Dutch law (Spier) and French law (Viney). They
intend to provide abrief synopsis of the tools used by various legal systems to prevent
the burden of liability law from becoming too onerous, by quoting and drawing con-
clusions from the respective national reports. This survey already shows in nuce the
problems and the difficulties inherent in a comparison of legal concepts: while, at first
sight, the German concept of 'Schutznorm' and 'duty of care' in English law not only
seem to serve the same purpose as tools to limit imputablecausation, but also seem to
MJ 3 (1996) 315
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