Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability

The Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability is a convention concluded in 1971 within the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), which governs the law that should be applied to products liability cases.[3] It entered into force in 1973 and as of 2020, 11 countries are party to it.[1]

Hague Liability Convention
Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability
State parties to the convention
  Parties to the convention
  Signatories to the convention
  Territories where the convention was applicable
Signed2 October 1973 (1973-10-02)
LocationThe Hague, Netherlands
Effective1 October 1977[1]
Condition3 ratifications[2]
Parties11[1]
DepositaryMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
LanguagesFrench and English
Full text
Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability at Wikisource

Scope of application

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The convention exclusively determines the law that applies between the manufacturer or distributor of a product and the person(s) that have suffered damage. It thus does not handle which court has jurisdiction, or whether a judicial decision should be recognized.

The convention does not apply between the seller that directly sold the product to the person suffering the damage. The exclusion was chosen as the negotiators deemed the relationship between those two parties already clear enough, and would hamper wide adoption of the convention.[4]

The products the convention applies to "shall include natural and industrial products, whether raw or manufactured and whether movable or immovable", and thus has a wide meaning. Member states can decide to exclude agricultural products from the scope of the convention (Article 16), as Spain did.

Applicable law

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The convention's main articles determining which law should be applied are Articles 4 and (if that doesn't result in an applicable law) Article 5.[3] They are summarized below:

Applicable law If it is also... Article Condition
Location where damage occurred Residence of the person suffering damage Article 4a
principle place of business of the person held liable Article 4b
place where the product was bought Article 4c
Residence of the person suffering damage the product was bought there Article 5a Article 4 does not lead to an applicable law
the principle place of business of the person held liable Article 5b
the principle place of business of the person held liable not a claim based on the law of the state where the injury took place Article 6 Article 4 and 5 do not lead to an applicable law

Parties

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State Signature Ratification/Accession Entry into force Comments
  Belgium 24 March 1976
  Croatia 22 January 1994 8 October 1991 succession of Yugoslavia
  Finland 10 August 1992 10 August 1992 1 November 1992
  France 18 December 1973 19 July 1977 1 October 1977
  Italy 6 February 1975
  Luxembourg 2 October 1973 31 May 1985 1 August 1985
  Montenegro 1 March 2007 3 June 2006 succession of Yugoslavia
  Kingdom of the Netherlands 2 October 1973 27 June 1979 1 November 1979 for the whole Kingdom
  Norway 2 October 1973 13 August 1976 1 October 1977 does not apply to "rules of prescription and limitation"
  Portugal 10 October 1973
  North Macedonia 20 September 1993 17 November 1991 succession of Yugoslavia
  Serbia 29 April 2001 27 April 1992 succession of Yugoslavia
  Slovenia 8 June 1992 25 June 1991 succession for Yugoslavia
  Spain 11 March 1987 23 November 1988 1 February 1989 reserves the right not to apply it to agricultural products
  Yugoslavia 15 December 1976 15 December 1976 1 October 1977 Still applicable through succession except in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Status table: 22: Convention of 2 October 1973 on the Law Applicable to Products Liability". Hague Conference on Private International Law. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Full text: 22: Convention of 2 October 1973 on the Law Applicable to Products Liability". Hague Conference on Private International Law. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b Durham, Bryant (1974). "Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability". Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. 4: 178–191.
  4. ^ W.L.M. Reese (1972). "Explanatory Report on the 1973 Hague Products Liability Convention, Offprint from the Acts and Documents of the Twelfth Session (1972), tome III, Products liability" (PDF). HCCH.