COMPENSATION OF PRIVATE LOSSES: THE EVOLUTION OF TORTS IN EUROPEAN BUSINESS LAW. Ed Reiner Schulze Munich: Sellier (www.sellier.de), 2011. xii + 245 pp. ISBN 9783866531758. €69.
| Author | Patrick O'Callaghan |
| Pages | 99-100 |
| Published date | 01 January 2013 |
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2013.0141 |
What is meant by “European tort law”? Is it simply the comparative study of non-contractual liability regimes in European legal systems with the aim of identifying “common principles”? Or, alternatively, can European tort law be understood within the context of EU primary and secondary legislation and the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice (7)? The latter is an understanding of European tort law that is seldom considered in the literature, so private law scholars will welcome this collection by Professor Schulze and his co-contributors.
The collection, which focuses on the compensation of private losses in business law, contains papers presented at a workshop in Münster, Germany in November 2010. The contributors include prominent scholars from several European legal systems. The book is divided into five parts. Part I provides a macro-view of developments and helpfully identifies recent trends in European tort law. Part II considers, in more detail, the compensation of private losses within specific areas, including product liability, intellectual property, erroneous ad hoc disclosure, the prohibition of unfair commercial practices and travel law. Indeed, one of the great strengths of this book is the sheer range of topics covered, highlighting the extensive reach of European tort law. Part III focuses on enforcement, while Part IV puts forward accounts of the interaction between European tort law and related fields, namely contract law and liability insurance. The final part includes papers from the panel discussion at the workshop.
The notion of a “European tort law” is not without its controversies. In fact, the very use of the word “tort” is problematic given its common law heritage. But, as Professor Schulze notes, other words or forms of words fare no better; indeed, the term ‘tort’ must, on his account, “gain its own ‘autonomous’ meaning when used in the European context” (8). Once we clear this conceptual hurdle we find that this book's specific focus on business law offers various insights for the tort lawyer. Consider, for example, Professor Koch's thoughts on prevention as an informing purpose of tort law in the business context (23), his discussion on the personality rights of enterprises (25–26) or Professor van Boom's interesting account of the law of damages in the context of competition law (165–178).
The book poses many important questions: how do we define European tort law? What is the role of the EU legislator and Court of Justice...
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