Has ‘Strict Liability’ Given Way to a General ‘Duty to Compensate Harm’ in Czech Law?

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-90
Author(s):  
Karel Beran ◽  
David Elischer
Keyword(s):  
Strict Liability ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
General Duty ◽  
Legal Duty ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
Contractual Obligations ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Legal Fact ◽  
Fault Liability

According to the new Civil Code, adopted in the Czech Republic in 2012 (“2012 Civil Code”), ‘strict liability’ (or ‘no-fault liability’) is no longer considered ‘liability’ in the traditional sense of the term. The declared concept of the Civil Code is based on the premise that the notion of ‘liability’ should be limited only to cases where a person can be held liable based on their culpability (fault). All other cases, denoted by the doctrine as the opposite to ‘fault-based liability’ (or more accurately, liability based on culpable conduct), that is, ‘no-fault’ or ‘strict’ liability, are – in actual fact – no longer conceived or designated by the Civil Code as ‘liability’ (in Czech: odpovědnost). They are rather constructed as a legal duty to compensate harm. This begs the question whether unlawfulness can be considered a prerequisite for the duty to compensate harm. The authors argue that the answer to this question depends on what the unlawfulness relates to – whether an unlawful act or an unlawful state of affairs. Their argument builds on the premise that unlawful acts are linked to an individual’s conduct, where both the reason and the will of the individual are present and, as a result, such unlawful acts are based on the individual’s culpability (fault). On the other hand, what is typical of an unlawful state of affairs is that the law has been violated, not because someone acted contrary to it, but rather because the rights of the aggrieved party were infringed. The authors conclude that an unlawful state of affairs is a general legal fact which covers all cases of ‘strict’ (or ‘no-fault’) liability and even a breach of contractual obligations. The authors develop their premise not only within Czech law, but also through comparison with other jurisdictions (France, Germany, and Austria), and analyze the potential of and limits to such approach.

Actual Issues of Treaty Law in CIS Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2207
Author(s):  
Olga I. ZOZULYAK ◽  
Oksana S. OLIINYK ◽  
Liliana V. SISHCHUK ◽  
Nataliia A. SLIPENCHUK ◽  
Yuliia I. PARUTA
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Freedom Of Contract ◽  
Contractual Relationship ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
Unified View ◽  
Contractual Obligations ◽  
Cis Countries ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Legal Fact

The development of social relations requires changes in various spheres of human activity and, accordingly, in the relations between the state and society, between the state and the individual. In addition, one of the effective regulators of these relations is a treaty, which can be used in various spheres. To date, the science has not developed a unified view of the contract, and its issues are discussed by representatives of various scientific fields, with the contract being studied as a legal fact, agreement, legal relationship, document and in this regard is defined differently. Moreover, contractual relationship is in constant flux and suffer from changes caused by various factors of legal validity. Therefore, treaty law and the rules governing contractual obligations are given a great deal of attention during improving the process of reforming civil law and ensuring its further effective implementation in the CIS. Within the framework of the conducted research and comparative analysis of the legal bases and practice of application in the sphere of treaty law, the author has formulated grounded positions on the outlined and topical issues, which are as follows: (1) the peculiarities of the use of terminology in the context of the problem of interpretation of contract terms are revealed; (2) identified problems that arise during the termination of treaties in the CIS; (3) the influence of innovative technologies and globalization and the nature of contractual relations in the territory of the CIS countries are established; (4) approaches to ‘smart-contracts’ and a public contract are disclosed; (5) the discussion approaches to understanding the concept of ‘freedom of contract’ are analyzed; 6) a conditional list of the most pressing issues of contract law that arises in the CIS are formed.  

scholarly journals Termination of Contractual Obligations in the Civil Code of Ukraine

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 123-142
Author(s):  
Anatoliy Kostruba
Keyword(s):  
Self Regulation ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Legal Model ◽  
Contractual Obligations ◽  
Legal Fact ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Subjects

A contract is a means for self-organization and self-regulation of civil and legal relations between parties in the Civil Code of Ukraine. A distinguishing feature of a contractual obligation is the dependence of the beginning of a legal fact in its structure on the lawful will of a party (act) to a legal transaction or objective circumstance of reality (events). The objective of the paper is to study the mechanism of termination of obligations by determining the legal framework for its functioning. The specificity of legal facts of normative-compensating nature was determined by the use of normative and protective functions in the legislation. Civil property and its legal regulation of relations are aimed at achieving the legal result determined by their participants at the stage of the exercise of rights. The study reveals that the compensating effect of the legal termination mechanism is expressed at the stage of legal termination, which involves compensating the inability to correct a defect of a legal fact that hinders the achievement of a goal of legal regulation when exercising the right to the start of an anticipated legal effect according to a legal model of legal subjects accepted by the participants of the civil relations. The author dwells upon one of the forms of termination of contractual obligations, more specifically, on the beginning of cancellation and on the deferred status of a legal transaction.

The International Legal Personality of the Individual

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Individual ◽  
International Legal Personality ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Second World

This book scrutinizes the relationship between the concept of international legal personality as a theoretical construct and the position of the individual as a matter of positive international law. By testing four main theoretical conceptions of international legal personality against historical and existing international legal norms that govern individuals, the book argues that the common narrative about the development of the role of the individual in international law is flawed. Contrary to conventional wisdom, international law did not apply to States alone until the Second World War, only to transform during the second half of the twentieth century to include individuals as its subjects. Rather, the answer to the question of individual rights and obligations under international law is—and always was—solely contingent upon the interpretation of international legal norms. It follows, of course, that the entities governed by a particular norm tell us nothing about the legal system to which that norm belongs. Instead, the distinction between international and national legal norms turns exclusively on the nature of their respective sources. Against the background of these insights, the book shows how present-day international lawyers continue to allow an idea, which was never more than a scholarly invention of the nineteenth century, to influence the interpretation and application of contemporary international law. This state of affairs has significant real-world ramifications as international legal rights and obligations of individuals (and other non-State entities) are frequently applied more restrictively than interpretation without presumptions regarding ‘personality’ would merit.

scholarly journals German Transplants in Estonian Tort Law: General Duties to Maintain Safety

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
Janno Lahe
Keyword(s):  
Tort Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Tort Liability ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Remarkable Change ◽  
General Duty ◽  
Relevant Case ◽  
German School ◽  
Legal Thinking ◽  
The Individual

The jurisprudence and case-law approach of German tort law – and, more broadly, German-school legal thinking in general – has found its way into Estonian case law on torts and into Estonia’s scholarly texts on jurisprudence. From among the catalogue of transplants from German tort law that have reached Estonian law or legal practice, the paper focuses on one whose importance cannot be overestimated: the concept of tort liability based on breach of the general duty to maintain safety. This domain has witnessed remarkable change since the beginning of the 2000s, when an analogous concept of liability was still unfamiliar to many Estonian lawyers. The article examines whether and to what extent the concept of liability based on the general duty to maintain safety has become recognised in Estonian legal practice in the years since. Also assessed is the relevant case law to date, for ascertainment of whether any adoption of an equivalent concept of liability has been successful and, in either event, what problems remain to be resolved. The importance of this issue extends far beyond that of individual questions: the recognition of general duties to maintain safety affects our understanding of the very structure of tort law, of that of the general composition of tort, and of the connections that link the individual prerequisites for tort liability. Furthermore, this constellation influences our thought in the field of tort law more generally and our approach to the cases emerging in real-world legal practice.

8. Corporate and vicarious liability

2021 ◽  
pp. 259-291
Author(s):  
David Ormerod ◽  
Karl Laird
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Vicarious Liability ◽  
The People ◽  
Legal Identity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Corporate Liability ◽  
Personal Liability

This chapter focuses on the potential criminal liability of organizations, particularly corporations. Corporations have a separate legal identity and are treated in law as having a legal personality distinct from the people who make up the corporation. Therefore, in theory at least, criminal liability may be imposed on the corporation separately from any liability imposed on the individual members. There are currently six ways in which a corporation or its directors may be prosecuted: personal liability of corporate directors, etc; strict liability offences; statutory offences imposing duties on corporations; vicarious liability; the identification doctrine; and statutory liability of corporate officers. The chapter also discusses the limits of corporate liability, the distinction between vicarious liability and personal duty, the application of vicarious liability, the delegation principle and the ‘attributed act’ principle. The chapter examines the failure to prevent offences found in the Bribery Act 2010 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

4. Strict liability

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-48
Author(s):  
Jonathan Herring
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
Mens Rea ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Actus Reus ◽  
Fault Liability

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the crime of strict liability. A strict liability offence is one which does not require mens rea in respect of at least one element of the actus reus. Strict liability is often referred to as no-fault liability. Strict liability is very rare at common law. Where a statute is silent as to mens rea, the judge must interpret the provision to decide if the offence has mens rea (the starting point) or is one of strict liability. There is a debate about whether the imposition of criminal liability in the absence of proof of fault can be justified.

scholarly journals Do attackers have a legal duty of care? Limits to the ‘individualization of war’

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Dill
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Legal Situation ◽  
Legal Duty ◽  
The Individual

AbstractDoes International Humanitarian Law (IHL) impose a duty of care on the attacker? From a moral point of view, should it? This article argues that the legal situation is contestable, and the moral value of a legal duty of care in attack is ambivalent. This is because a duty of care is both a condition for and an obstacle to the ‘individualization of war’. The individualization of war denotes an observable multi-dimensional norm shift in international relations. Norms for the regulation of war that focus on the interests, rights, and duties of the individual have gained in importance compared to those that focus on the interests, rights, and duties of the state. As the individual, not the state, is the ultimate locus of moral value, this norm shift in international relations, and the corresponding developments in international law, are morally desirable. When it comes to IHL, the goal of protecting the interests of the individual creates strong reasons both for and against imposing a legal duty of care on the attacker. The enquiry into whether IHL does and should impose a legal duty of care therefore reveals that the extent to which war can be individualized is limited.

Legal and Political Reponses to White-Collar Crime

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomomi Kawasaki
Keyword(s):  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Sentencing Guidelines ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Compliance Programs ◽  
Willful Blindness ◽  
New Policies ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Corporate Wrongdoing

American responses to white-collar crime, especially corporate wrongdoing, passed a turning point in 1991 with the enactment of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, which adopted a “carrot and stick” approach to sentencing corporate offenders, including big incentives for companies introducing compliance programs. In the 2000s, this approach was enhanced by the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 and the Thompson memo of 2003. In addition to the effects of the Thompson memo, federal prosecutors, learning from the fate of Arthur Andersen, came increasingly to rely on deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) after 2005. However, the Yates memo issued in September 2015 may change Department of Justice policy on corporate wrongdoing dramatically, particularly regarding investigation and prosecution of individuals. In thinking about and conceptualizing legal and political responses to white-collar crime, two main actors are meaningful: the corporation and the individual. Today, a corporation is criminally liable under the respondeat superior doctrine in federal criminal law, and corporate offenders are sentenced under the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines, which provide for fines, restitution, and probation as possible criminal penalties. In recent years, around 150–200 organizations have been sentenced under the Sentencing Guidelines annually. An individual white-collar criminal may be personally liable for their unlawful acts even if the corporation itself is convicted too. Individuals may be convicted absent any showing of mens rea in rare cases (strict liability crime and “willful blindness”). In the last decade, more than 8,000 individuals were prosecuted and convicted, for around a 90% conviction rate. One effect of the Yates memo may be to shift the main target of legal and political response to white-collar crime from the corporation to the individual. New policies under the Yates memo also come with new problems, for instance, that companies may lose incentive to introduce a compliance program or may look for scapegoats to escape prosecution themselves.

scholarly journals The German “Verständigung” and Consensual Elements in German Criminal Trials

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1134-1148
Author(s):  
Matthias Jahn ◽  
Charlotte Schmitt-Leonardy
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
German Law ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Negotiated Agreements ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

AbstractNegotiated agreements in criminal proceedings have often been regarded as the embodiment of a negative wider trend towards the informalization of the criminal procedure, and have—especially in Germany—long been the subject of vivid controversies. A criminal proceeding in the traditional sense aims to establish the truth ex officio, which is achieved by means of a comprehensive inquiry into the facts conducted by the court during the trial, followed by a sentence that appropriately reflects the individual guilt of the defendant, which can then, in turn, achieve the procedural objective of “justice.” A streamlining of the extensive inquiry into the facts that the court would normally have to conduct via the consensual process of negotiation does not, a priori, fit the mold of a criminal procedure in the aforementioned sense. At the same time, the consensual termination of criminal proceedings—which also includes other forms of termination of the proceeding besides the concept of Verständigung, which occur by means of a preferment of public charges—is, in fact, more prevalent in practice these days than judgments rendered in adversarial trials are. Our Article focuses on the reasons why this stark contrast between legal doctrine and reality came to pass and which aspects of the implementation of the concept of consensus into the German law of criminal procedure still seem problematic.

Divining Nuclear Intentions: A Review Essay

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Potter ◽  
Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Level Of Analysis

Although projections of nuclear proliferation abound, they rarely are founded on empirical research or guided by theory. Even fewer studies are informed by a comparative perspective. The two books under review—The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions, and Foreign Policy, by Jacques Hymans, and Nuclear Logics: Alternative Paths in East Asia and the Middle East, by Etel Solingen, are welcome exceptions to this general state of affairs, and represent the cutting edge of nonproliferation research. Both works challenge conventional conceptions of the sources of nuclear weapons decisions and offer new insights into why past predictions of rapid proliferation failed to materialize and why current prognoses about rampant proliferation are similarly flawed. While sharing a number of common features, including a focus on subsystemic determinants of national behavior, the books differ in their methodology, level of analysis, receptivity to multicausal explanations, and assumptions about decisionmaker rationality and the revolutionary nature of the decision. Where one author emphasizes the importance of the individual leader's national identity conception in determining a state's nuclear path, the other explains nuclear decisions primarily with regard to the political-economic orientation of the ruling coalition. Notwithstanding a tendency to overinterpret evidence, the books represent the best of contemporary social science research and provide compelling interpretations of nuclear proliferation dynamics of great relevance to scholars and policymakers alike.

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