Whether the harm for which compensation is sought in an action in tort is regarded as a single indivisible loss or a plurality of losses can have a number of important ramifications for the law of tort, for example, in considering compensable damage, the apportionment of responsibility between multiple tortfeasors, and the application of limitation periods and (where they exist) caps and thresholds.
These issues may have particular significance in the context of mass torts, and raise questions of private international law and civil procedure as well as substantive tort law. They are also of considerable practical importance for insurers.
In this comparative study, country reports from twelve legal systems and special reports on private international law, the economics of loss division and insurance provide an insight into the interaction of tort law, civil procedure and insurance in this hitherto largely neglected area of legal science.

 

Country reports:

Austria:
Tort Law: E. Karner/ O. Riss
Insurance: A. Fenyves

Denmark: A. Ehlers

England and Wales:
Tort Law: K. Oliphant
Insurance: R. Lewis

France: S. Galand-Carval

Germany: G. Wagner

Hungary: A. Menyhárd

Israel: I. Gilead

Italy: A. Monti

Poland: E. Bagińska

Spain: J. Solé Feliu/ A. Ruda

USA: M. Green/B. Hanner


Special reports:

T. Thiede, Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage from the European Conflict of Laws Perspective

I. Gilead, Introduction to the Analysis of Loss Division

C. Lahnstein, Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage: Insurance Aspects

K. Oliphant/ M. Steininger, Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage in Tort Law and Insurance: Comparative Summary


K. Oliphant, Concluding Reflections on the Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage in Tort Law and Insurance