The Contract - Tort Dichotomy and a Theoretical Framework for Product Liability Law

This comparative law study considers whether the distinction between contract and tort in Australian, French and German law is dichotomous and examines the different incidents of contract and tort in product liability law. It undertakes these tasks concurrently at three different levels.
First, it describes and evaluates the law in the three jurisdictions in the context of the propositions that the law should be clear in structure and coherent in content, and that the law’s compensatory function dictates that different categories of claimants suffering loss or damage caused by a defective product should have the same rights.
Second, it examines the nature of contract and tort, the consequences of classification of rights as contractual and tortious, concurrent liability and three "borderland” areas (exceptions to privity of contract, the definition of defect, and the recovery of pure economic loss in tort).
Third, it considers whether the distinction between contract and tort is a valid framework for a system-neutral, micro-comparative study and also establishes that many of the theoretical difficulties faced by the three jurisdictions are also common.