Product Liability: Jurisdictional Comparisons

Product liability is an ever-growing area of legal practice, and area of risk for companies involved in the manufacture and supply of products, particularly consumer goods, all around the world. In today's international economy, product liability issues are necessarily cross border. It is critical for such companies to have a working knowledge of the laws on product liability across the jurisdictions into which their products or component parts reach. Product liability laws or the practical application of those laws can vary greatly across jurisdictions - even across jurisdictions one would ordinarily expect to be aligned or coordinated. Further, governments around the world continue to grapple with the challenges posed by and regulation required around class actions and litigation funding, balancing the interests of plaintiffs to be compensated for their loss and damage, and the interests of manufacturers and suppliers, for whom awards of damages (never mind the costs of conducting such actions) may be devastating.