Art 4:201 Petl: Revisiting the Grey Areas between Fault-Based and Strict Liability

Abstract

In 2005, the European Group on Tort Law (EGTL) published the text and commentary of its “Principles of European Tort Law” (PETL). With art. 4:201, the PETL include a rule on the reversal of the burden of proving fault which is intended to cover the grey areas between fault-based and strict liability. Almost 18 years after publication of the PETL, the current paper aims at revisiting these grey areas between strict and fault-based liability. When doing so, the paper first deals with questions of terminology and outlines what is meant by the notion of grey areas between strict and fault-based liability. In a second step, the way these grey areas are dealt with in the Principles is examined and, finally, a few comments on art. 4:201 PETL and the way forward are made.

Keywords: Principles of European Tort Law, grey areas, strict liability, fault-based liability