Vicarious Liability in Tort: A Comparative Perspective

✍ Scribed by Paula Giliker

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 330
• Series: Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law 69
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Vicarious liability is controversial: a principle of strict liability in an area dominated by fault-based liability. By making an innocent party pay compensation for the torts of another, it can also appear unjust. Yet it is a principle found in all Western legal systems, be they civil law or common law. Despite uncertainty as to its justifications, it is accepted as necessary. In our modern global economy, we are unlikely to understand its meaning and rationale through study of one legal system alone. Using her considerable experience as a comparative tort lawyer, Paula Giliker examines the principle of vicarious liability (or, to a civil lawyer, liability for the acts of others) in England and Wales, Australia, Canada, France and Germany, and with reference to legal systems in countries such as the United States, New Zealand and Spain.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Frontmatter......Page 2
Contents......Page 12
Diagrams......Page 16
Table of cases......Page 17
Table of legislation......Page 35
Preface......Page 42
1.1 Introduction......Page 46
1.2 Vicarious liability: an historical overview......Page 51
1.3 The legal basis for vicarious liability......Page 58
1.4 Conclusion......Page 63
2.2 Identifying a general framework for liability......Page 66
2.3 Liability for the acts of others in other areas of law......Page 88
2.4 Conclusion......Page 99
3.1 Introduction......Page 100
3.2 The control test......Page 102
3.3 Doubts as to the control test......Page 105
3.4 Alternative approaches to the control test......Page 111
3.5 Application of the totality of the relationship' test: owner-drivers and bicycle couriers......Page 118<br>3.6 Conclusion......Page 122<br>4.1 Introduction......Page 126<br>4.2 Lending employees: theborrowed servant' problem......Page 128
4.3 Temporary workers: vicarious liability for casual or agency staff?......Page 138
4.4 Conclusion......Page 143
5.1 Introduction......Page 146
5.2 Relationships giving rise to vicarious liability beyond the contract of employment: statute......Page 148
5.3 Relationships giving rise to vicarious liability beyond the contract of employment: case law......Page 151
5.4 A new model to meet contemporary needs: representative agents or liability arising out of the ability to direct, control and manage the activities of another?......Page 172
5.5 An appraisal: a new model to meet contemporary needs?......Page 185
5.6 Conclusion......Page 188
6.1 Introduction......Page 190
6.2 Limiting the scope of liability: acting in the course of employment/one's functions/assigned tasks......Page 192
6.3 Determining the test for course of employment',les fonctions auxquelles ils les ont employés', in Ausführung der Verrichtung'......Page 195<br>6.4 Appraisal: what doesclose connection' or `dans les fonctions' mean? Can a workable definition be found?......Page 233
7.1 Introduction......Page 241
7.2 Parental responsibility at common law......Page 242
7.3 Finding a framework for parental responsibility in tort law......Page 248
7.4 Which model should a legal system utilise?......Page 262
7.5 Conclusion: a common law doctrine of strict parental liability?......Page 268
8.1 Introduction......Page 272
8.2 Theoretical justifications for vicarious liability in common and civil law......Page 273
8.3 Balancing policy objectives: the modern approach to justifying vicarious liability......Page 288
8.4 General conclusion......Page 297
9 - A postscript: a harmonised European law of vicarious liability?......Page 300
9.1 Two frameworks for liability: Article 6:102, PETL (liability for auxiliaries) and Book VI, Article 3:201, DCFR (accountability for damage caused by employees and representatives)......Page 303
9.2 Conclusion: practicality and principle......Page 308
Appendix: Key provisions of the French and German Civil Codes......Page 312
Index......Page 318
Titles in the series......Page 326