The foundations of tort law in European 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", has been engaged over the last 11 years 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 contributory negligence and its relevance in the allocation of damages under their respective national tort system. Of immense practical importance, the concept of contributory negligence 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 shows the common grounds of contributory negligence in the various legal systems under examination. In addition, it provides the academic and the practitioner with the fundamental aspects of contributory negligence in the countries covered.