The Institute is pleased to announce the recent publication of the honorary research fellow H Koziol, the Basic Questions of Tort Law from a Germanic Perspective (2012).

Published in 2012, this book is the first part of a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund, which seeks to produce answers to the basic questions of tort law in Europe from a comparative perspective. ‘Basic Questions of Tort Law from a Germanic Perspective’ is intended to provide a basis for comprehensive responses by representatives of other European legal families and jurisdictions outside Europe on the fundamental ideas elaborated in this book. In line with the FWF’s open access policy, a free electronic copy of  the study is archived on the publisher’s website.
 
The book in hand tries to give a more extensive introduction to the delictual and contractual law of liability and damages. It addresses basic problems and questions and where appropriate elaborates upon them; it queries the usual arguments, prompts the reconsideration of apparently established ideas and enhances awareness of interrelationships. Above all the position of the law of tort within the overall system for the protection of legal goods is examined. The resulting conclusions serve to facilitate the subsequent elaboration of the tasks of the law of tort, in which context the increasingly emphasised economic function is discussed as well as the compensatory, deterrent and penal functions.
 
However, the book is not limited to these very general considerations but also seeks to apply the insights gained in order to examine both general and more specific questions. These in turn aim to provide the reader with information which will enable him or her to understand better the ideas in foreign legal systems. Nonetheless, no attempt is made to provide a complete overview; instead the focus is on particularly controversial issues and new approaches. Not only is the relationship between breaches of obligations and torts examined, the basic requirements for a claim under tort law – damage and causation – are discussed. An extensive section is devoted to the elements of establishing liability; besides wrongfulness and fault, other defects within the sphere of the party liable for damages are looked at: for example, the capacity to bear the economic burden, insurability, the notion of a risk community and the interplay of the various elements. The question of liability on the side of the victim, ie contributory responsibility, is looked at anew – starting from basic principles. After the limitation of liability, the compensation of damage and the reduction of the duty to compensate, a final section is devoted to the prescription of compensation claims.


The book can be ordered at the price of Euro 78 (excluding postage and packing) through the publishers’ website www.jan-sramek-verlag.at

• H Koziol (ed): Basic Questions of Tort Law from a Germanic Perspective, ISBN 978-3-902638-85-4.

A cross-disciplinary symposium taking place in Birmingham Law School (UK) on 19 October.

The symposium will bring together lawyers and scientists to discuss common problems associated with the legal use of scientific evidence and to explore potential solutions to these problems.

Attendance is free but pre-registration is required.

All queries should be directed to c.mcivor@bham.ac.uk

A flyer with more information can be found [here]

Alongside the many varied Projects undertaken by the Institute the Scientific Staff maintain a healthy publication record of their own also covering a wide range of legal areas. For the second Quarter of 2012 the publications by the Scientific Staff of Institute are as follows:

Karner, Ernst

•    Mangelfolgeschäden in Veräußerungsketten. Am Beispiel der Aus- und Einbaukosten. Wien: Jan Sramek Verlag (96 pages). (Together with Helmut Koziol).
•    Review of Elke Heinrich, Haftung bei alternativer Kausalität mit Zufall (2010), Juristische Blätter (JBl) 2012. Approx pp 3
•    Entscheidungsanmerkung zu OGH 21.6.2011, 1 Ob 63/11p. Österreichische Juristen Zeitung (ÖJZ) 2012, pp 312–313.
•    Entscheidungsanmerkung zu OGH 21.6.2011, 1 Ob 46/11p. Österreichische Juristen Zeitung (ÖJZ) 2012, p 367.
•    Employers’ Liability and Workers’ Compensation in Austria. In: Oliphant, Ken; Wagner, Gerhard (eds), Employers’ Liability and Workers’ Compensation, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, pp 1–48. (Togehther with Felix Kernbichler).
•    Liability for Loss of Housekeeping Capacity in Austria. In: Karner, Ernst; Oliphant, Ken (eds), Loss of Houskeeping Capacity, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, pp 1–27. (Together with Nora Wallner-Friedl).
•    Loss of Housekeeping Capacity in Comparative Perspective. In: Karner, Ernst; Oliphant, Ken (eds), Loss of Housekeeping Capacity. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, pp 275–319 (Together with Ken Oliphant).
•    Die Haftung des Staates für administratives, judikatives und legislatives Unrecht aus rechtsvergleichender Perspektive. In: Tagungsband XX. Karlsbader Juristentag 2012, pp 93 – 113.
•    Loss of Housekeeping Capacity. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter (339 pages). (Editor ,together with Ken Oliphant).

Koziol, Helmut

•    Mangelfolgeschäden in Veräußerungsketten. Am Beispiel der Aus- und Einbaukosten, Wien: Jan Sramek Verlag (96 pages). (Together with Ernst Karner).
•    Entscheidungsbesprechung (Unwirksamkeit einer Zugangsfiktions-Klausel in einem Verbrauchervertrag), Österreichisches Bank Archiv (ÖBA) 2012, pp 250–252.
•    Gedanken zur österreichischen Schadenersatzreform. In: Bundesministerium für Justiz (ed), 200 Jahre ABGB, Richterwoche 2011 in Lochau, Wien/Graz: NWV, pp 307–333.
•    Glanz und Eleden der deutschen Zivilrechtsdogmatik – Das deutsche Zivilrecht als Vorbild für Europa? Archiv für die civilistische Praxis 2012, pp 1–62.

Oliphant, Ken

•    Loss of Housekeeping Capacity. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter (339 pages). (Editor, together with Ernst Karner).

Thiede, Thomas

•    The European Coordination of Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability. In: Oliphant, Ken; Wagner, Gerhard (eds), Employers’ Liability and Workers’ Compensation, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, pp 485–517
•    Aktivgerichtsstand für Betroffene von Persönlichkeitsrechtsverletzungen im Onlinebereich. ecolex – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht 2012, pp 131–134.
•    Mass Media, Personality Rights and European Conflict of Laws. SSRN: <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1964506>. (Together with Colm Peter McGrath).

Wallner-Friedl, Nora

•    Liability for Loss of Housekeeping Capacity in Austria. In: Karner, Ernst; Oliphant, Ken (eds), Loss of Houskeeping Capacity, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, pp 1–28. (Together with Ernst Karner).

The Institute for European Tort Law is pleased to announce the completion of the study on 'Loss of Housekeeping Capacity' with the publication of a volume with DeGruyter Verlag.

The topic is of particular interest for insurers as compensation for loss of housekeeping capacity is one of the main heads of damages awarded for personal injury. Naturally it also has considerable importance for accident victims. Yet it has received relatively little scholarly attention, at least from a comparative perspective. The aim of this study is to examine national approaches to the award of damages under the head of loss of housekeeping capacity, and to compare the levels of damages so awarded. The research therefore addressed both the concepts employed in different national systems and, by means of practical case studies, the compensation actually paid in individual cases.

The results of the research comprise ten country reports (Austria, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland) based on a Questionnaire (Part I: General Part and Doctrine, Part II: Concrete Assessment Examples) and a concluding Comparative Report.

This project, 'Loss of Housekeeping Capacity', was undertaken at the request of the Swiss Insurance Association.
 

• Ernst Karner and Ken Oliphant (eds), Loss of Housekeeping Capacity (2011), ISBN 978-3-89949-814-1.

On 27 July 2012, the Institute is delighted to receive a visit from Dr Shaokun Fang, President of Yantai University, Shandong Province, China, and Prof Jie You, Director, International Office, also of Yantai University.

The visit follows the signing in 2011 of a cooperation agreement between the Institute and Yantai University under which a biennial forum on Sino-European private law is planned. Under the agreement, Yantai University has established a Sino-European Tort Law Institute (SETLI) and will actively promote the Institute and its work in China, while the Institute will actively promote the SETLI and its work in Europe. By a side-agreement, the SETLI will also embark on a series of translations into Chinese of Institute publications. Institute Director Ken Oliphant says: 'The cooperation is a very exciting opportunity for the Institute of European Tort Law, and I personally welcome the chance of working with the outstanding tort scholars involved in the creation of the SETLI.'