The foundations of tort law in European legal systems differ considerably. Until recently, there was no attempt to harmonize the entire field of tort law in a consistent and comprehensive manner. A group of tort law experts, the 'European Group on Tort Law', is currently engaged in systematically researching the most fundamental questions underlying the various tort law systems.

The result of their work is this important series of books, which seeks a common law of Europe without the need to lay these principles down in formal legal texts, such as a European civil code.

In this volume, the authors provide an overview of strict liability and its importance in establishing such liability under their respective national tort law system. The concept of strict liability is further examined in an analysis of actual cases. This volume also contains an economic analysis of this area of tort law as well as a comparative report which summarizes and compares the most important elements identified by the individual country reports.

In summary, this volume tries to show the common grounds of strict liability in the various legal systems under examination. In addition, it provides the academic and the practitioner with the fundamental issues of strict liability in the countries covered.