prop · GE03197 · 1990-12-31 00:00:00 — Såkan bli fallet om t.ex. en bristfällig beståndsdel har satts i omlopp föreikraftträdandet, medan slutprodukten sätts i omlopp efter denna tidpunkt.Ansvaret för tillverkaren av beståndsdelen kommer då att bedömas enligttidigare gällande regler, medan slutproduktens tillverkare får svara enligtproduktskadelagen. Bestämmelsentar sikte pä just det exemplar av produkten som har orsakat skadan. Det saknarbetydelse andra exemplar av produkten har satts i omlopp. Beträffandeinnebörden av uttrycket "sätta i omlopp" hänvisas till vad somanförts i specialmotiveringen till 8 § 1. Medhänvisning till vad jag nu har anfört hemställer jag att regeringen debföreslär 1. attanta förslaget till produktskadelag, debbereder tillfälle att ta del av vad jag har anfört om 2. undantag från importörsansvaret (avsnitt 2.5.4), 3. krav på bevis om orsakssamband mellan skadegörandehändelse och aktuell skada (avsnitt 2.8.1), 4. skadeståndsrättsliga specialregler (avsnitt2.10.2), om tillämplig lag vidproduktansvar (avsnitt 2.11). Regeringenansluter sig till föredragandens överväganden och beslutar att genomproposition förelägga vad föredraganden har anfört för den åtgärd ochde ändamål som föredraganden har hemställt om. Bilaga 1 Prop.1990/91:197 onthe approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisionsof the Member States concerning liability for (85/374/EEC) THECOUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Havingregard to the Treaty establishing Economic Community, and inparticular Artide 100 thereof, Havingregard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to theopinion of Parliament, Having regard to theopinion of the Economic and , Whereasapproximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the liability of theproducer for damage caused by the defectiveness of his products is necessarybecause the existing divergences may distort competition and affect themovement of goods within the common märket and entail a differing degree ofprotection of the consumer against damage caused by a defective product to hisheaith or property; Whereasliability without fault on the part of the producer is the sole means ofadequately solving the problem, peculiar to our age of increasing technicality,of a fair apportionment of the risks inherent in modern technologicalproduction; Whereasliability without fault should apply only to movables which have beenindustrially produced; whereas, as a result, it is appropriate to excludeliability for agricultural products and game, except where they have undergonea processing of an industrial nature which could cause a defect in theseproducts; whereas the liability provided for in this Directive should alsoapply to movables which are used in the constmction of immovables or areinstalled in immovables; Whereasprotection of the consumer requires that all producers involved in theproduction process should be made liable, in so far as their finished product,component part or any raw material supplied by them was defective; whereas, forthe same reason, liability should extend to importers of products into theCommuniiy and to persons who present themselves as producers by affixing theirname, trade mark or other distinguishing feature or who supply a product theproducer of which cannot be identified; Prop. Whereas,in situations where several persons are liable for the same damage, theprotection of the consumer requires that the injured person should be able toclaim full compensation for the damage from any one of them; Whereas,to protect the physical well-being and property of the consumer, thedefectiveness of the product should be determined by reference not to itsfitness for use but to the lack of the safety which the public at large isentitled to expect; whereas the safety is assessed by excluding any misuse ofthe product not reasonable under the circumstances; Whereasa fair apportionment of risk between the injured person and the producer impliesthat the producer should be able to free himself from liability if he furnishesproof as to the exislence of certain exonerating circumstances; Whereasthe protection of the consumer requires that the liability of the producerremains unaffected by acts or omissions of other persons having contributed tocause the damage; whereas, however, the contributory negligence of the injuredperson may be taken into account to reduce or disallow such liability; Whereasthe protection of the consumer requires compensation for death and personalinjury as well as compensation for damage to property; whereas the lattershould nevertheless be limited to goods for private use or consumption and besubject to a déduction of a lower threshold of a fixed amount in order to avoidlitigation in an excessive number of cases; whereas this Directive should notprejudice compensation for pain and suffering and other non-material damagespayable, where appropriate, under the law applicable to the case; Whereasa uniform period of limitation for bringing of action for compensation is inthe interest both of the injured person and of the producer; Whereasproducts age in the course of time, higher safety standards are developed andthe staie of science and technology progresses; whereas, therefore, it wouldnot be reasonable to make the producer liable for an uniimited period for thedefectiveness of his product; whereas, therefore, liabUity should expire aftera reasonable length of time, without prejudice to claims pending at law; Whereas,to achieve effective protection of consumers, no contractual dérogation shouldbe permitted as regards the liability of the producer in relation to theinjured person; Whereas under the legalsystems of the Member States an injured party Prop. may have a claim fordamages based on grounds of contractual liability orongroundsofnon-contractual liability other than that provided förin this Directive; in so faras these provisions also serve to altain the objective of effectiveprotection of consumers, they should remain unaffected by thisDirective; whereas, in so far as effective protection of consumers in the sector ofpharmaceutical products is already also attained in a Member Stateunder a special liability system, claims based on this system shouldsimilarly remain possible; Whereas,to the extent that liability for nuclear injury or damage is already covered inall Member States by adéquate special rules, it has been possible to excludedamage of this type from the scope of this Directive; Whereas,since the exclusion of primary agricultural products and game from the scope ofthis Directive may be felt, in certain Member States, in view of what isexpected for the protection of consumers, to restrict unduly such protection,it should be possible for a to extend liability to such products; Whereas,for similar reasons, the possibility offered to a producer to free himself fromliability if he proves that the state of scientific and technical knowledge atthe time when he put the product into circulation was not such as to enable theexislence of a defect to be discovered may be felt in certain Member States torestrict unduly the protection of the consumer; whereas it should therefore bepossible for a to maintain in its législation or to provide by newlégislation that this exonerating circumstance is not admitted; whereas, in thecase of new législation, making use of this dérogation should, however, besubject to a Community stand-still procédure, in order to raise, if possible,the level of protection in a uniform throughout the Communiiy; Whereas,taking into account the legal traditions in most of the Member States, it isinappropriate to set any financial ceiling on the producer's liability withoutfault, whereas, in so far as there are, however, differing traditions, it seemspossible to admit that a may derogaie from the principle ofuniimited liability by providing a limit for the total liability of theproducer for damage resulting from a death or personal injury and caused byidentical items with the same defect, provided that this limit is establishedat a level sufficiently high to guarantee adéquate protection of the consumerand the correct functioning of the common märket; Whereasthe harmonization resulting from this cannot be total at the present stage, butopens the way towards greaier harmonization; whereas it is therefore necessarythat the Council receive at regular intervals, reports from the Commission onthe application of this Directive, 9 1990/91. accompanied, as the casemay be, by appropriate proposals; Prop. Whereasit is particularly important in this respect that a re-examination be carriedout of those parts of the Directive relating to the derogations open to theMember States, at the expiry of a period of sufficient length to gatherpractical expérience on the effects of these derogations on the protection ofconsumers and on the functioning of the common märket, HASADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Theproducer shall be liable for damage caused by a defect in his product. Forthe purpose of this Directive "product" means all movables, with theexception of primary agricultural products and game, even though incorporatedinto another movable or into an immovable. "Primary agriculturalproducts" means the products of the soil, of stock-farming and offisheries, excluding products which have undergone initial processing. "Product" includes electricity. "Producer"means the manufacturer of a finished product, the producer of any raw material or the manufacturer of a component part and any person who, by putting his name, trademark or other distinguishing feature on the product presents himself as its producer. Without prejudice to the liability of the producer,any person who imports into the Community a product for sale, hire, leasing orany form of distribution in the course of his business shall be deemed to be aproducer within the meaningofthis Directive and shall be responsible as aproducer. Where the producer of the product cannot beidentified, each supplier of the product shall be treated as its producerunless he informs the injured person, within a reasonable time, of the identityof the producer or of the person who supplied him with the product. The sameshall apply, in the case of an imported product, if this product does notindicate the identity of the importer referred to in paragraph 2, even if thename of the producer is indicated. Theinjured person shall be required to prove the damage, the defect and the causalrelationship between defect and damage. Where,as a result of the provisions of this Directive, two or more persons are liablefor the same damage, they shall be liable jointly and severally, withoutprejudice to the provisions of national law concerning the rights ofcontribution or recourse. Aproduct is defective when it does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect, taking all circumstances into account, including: (a) the presentation of the product; (b) the use to which it could reasonably be expectedthat the product would be put; (c) the time when the product was put into circulation. Aproduct shall not be considered defective for the sole reason that a better product is subsequenlly put into circulation. Theproducer shall not be liable as a result of this Directive if he proves: (a) that he did not put the product into circulation;or (b) that, having regard to the circumstances, il isprobable that the defect which caused the damage did not exist at the time whenthe product was put into circulation by him or that this defect came into beingafterwards; or (c) that the product was neither manufactured by himfor sale or any form of distribution for economic purpose nor manufactured ordistributed by him in the course of his business; or (d) thatthe defect is due to compliance of the product with mandaiory regulations issued by the public authorities; or (e) thatthe state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time when he put the product into circulation was not such as to enable the exislence of the defect to be discovered; or (f) inthe case of a manufacturer of a component, that the defect is attributable to the design of the product in which the component has been filled or to the instructions given by the manufacturer of the product. Without prejudice to theprovisions of national law concerning the right of contribution orrecourse, the liability of the producer shall not Prop. 1990/91:197 bereduced when the damage is caused both by a defect in product and by the act oromission of a third party. 2.The liability of the producer may be reduced or disallowed when, having regardto all the circumstances, the damage is caused both by a defect in the productand by the fault of the injured person or any person for whom the injuredperson is responsible. For the purpose of Artide1, "damage" means: (a) damage caused by death or by personal injuries; (b) damage to, or destruction of, any item of propertyother than the defective product itself, with a lower threshold of 500 ECU,provided that the item of property: (i)is of a type ordinarily intended for private use or consumption, and (ii) wasused by the injured person mainly for his own private use or consumption. ThisArtide shall be without prejudice to national provisions relating tonon-material damage. Member States shall provide in their législationthat a limitation period of three years shall apply to proceedings for therecovery of damages as provided for in this Directive. The limitation periodshall begin to run from the day on which the plaintiff became aware, or shouldreasonably have become aware, of the damage, the defect and the identity of theproducer. The laws of Member States regulaiing suspension orinterruption of the limitation period shall not be affected by this Directive. MemberStates shall provide in their législation that the rights conferred upon theinjured person pursuant to this Directive shall be extinguished upon the expiryof a period of 10 years from the date on which the producer put intocirculation the actual product which caused the damage, unless the injuredperson has in the meantime instituted proceedings against the producer. Theliability of the producer arising from this Directive may not, in relation to the injuredperson, be limited or exduded by a provision Prop. 1990/91:197 limiting hisliability or exempting him from liability. ThisDirective shall not affect any rights which an injured person may haveaccording to the rules of the law of contractual or non-contractual liabilityor a special liability system existing at the moment when this Directive isnotified. ThisDirective shall not apply to injury or damage arising from nuclear accidentsand covered by intemational conventions ratified by the Member States. (a) by way of dérogation from Artide 2, provide in itslégislation that within the meaning of Artide 1 of this Directive"product" also means primary agricultural products and game; (b) by way of dérogation from Artide 7 (e), maintainor, subject to the procédure set out in paragraph 2 of this Artide, provide inthis législation that the producer shall be liable even if he proves that thestate of scientific and technical knowledge at the time when he put the productinte circulation was not such as to enable the existence of a defect to bediscovered. wishing to introduce the measure specified in paragraph 1 (b) shall communicate the text of the proposed measure to the Commission. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof. concerned shall hold the proposed measure in abeyance for ninemonths after the Commission is informed and provided that in the meantime theCommission has not submitted to the Council a proposal amending this Directiveon the relevant malier. However, if within three months of receiving the saidinformation, the Commission does not advise the concerned that itintends submitting such a proposal to the Council, the may takethe proposed measure immediately. Ifthe Commission does submit to the Council such a proposal amending thisDirective within the aforementioned nine months, the hold the proposed measure in abeyance for a further period of 18 monthsfrom the date on which the proposal is submitted. Ten years after thedate of notification of this Directive, the Prop. Commission shall submit tothe Council a report on the effect that rulings by the courts as to theapplication of Artide 7 (e) and of paragraph 1 (b) of this Artide have onconsumer protection and the functioning of the In thelight of this report the Council, acting on a proposal from theCommission and pursuant to the terms of Artide 100 of the Treaty, shalldecide whether to repeal Artide 7 (e) may provide that a producer's total liability for damage resulting from a death or personal injury and caused by identical items with the same defect shall be limited to an amount which may not be less than 70 million ECU. Tenyears after the date of notification of this Directive, the Commission shall submit to the Council a report on the effect on consumer protection and the functioning of the common märket of the implementation of the financial limit on liability by those Member States which have used the option provided for in paragraph 1. In the light of this report the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission and pursuant to the terms of Artide 100 of the Treaty, shall decide whether to repeal paragraph 1. ThisDirective shall not apply to products put into circulation before the date onwhich the provisions referred to in Artide 19 enter into force. Forthe purposes of this Directive, the ECU shall be that defined by Regulation (EEC) No 3180/78, as amended by. Regulation (EEC) No 2626/84. The équivalent in national currency shall initially be calculated at the råte obtaining on the date of adoption of this Directive. Everyfive years the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall examine and, if need be, revise the amounts in this Directive, in the light of economic and monetary trends in the Community. 1.Member States shall bring into force, not låter than three years from the dateof notification of this Directive, the laws, regulations and administrativeprovisions necessary to comply with this Directive. shall forthwith inform theCommission thereof. 2.The procédure set out in Artide 15 (2) shall apply from the date ofnotification of this Directive. MemberStates shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions ofnational law which they subsequenlly adopi in the field governed by thisDirective. Everyfive years the Commission shall present a report to of this Directive and, if necessary, shall submit appropriateproposals to it. This Directive isaddressed to the Member States. Doneat , 25 1985. ThisDirective was notified to the Member States on 30 1985. Bilaga 2 Prop.1990/91:197 Sammanfattning av promemorian (Ds 1989:79) Sedanflera decennier har det i och den övriga industrivärlden pågått endiskussion om det s.k. produktansvaret. Med denna term avses skadeståndsansvarför skador som produkter orsakar pä annat än själva produkten. ISverige finns inga särskilda lagregler om produktansvar. Ansvaret förproduktskador regleras därför av skadeståndslagen och i vissa fall avskadeständsrättslig speciallagstiftning. För skadeständsskyldighet förutsättsenligt skadeståndslagen att skadan har orsakats av någon genom vårdslöshet. Idet moderna industrisamhället tillverkas och sprids en oöverskådlig mängdprodukter i sådana former att den enskilde konsumenten omöjligen kankontrollera de produkter han använder och förvissa sig om att de är riskfria.Konsumenterna tvingas att förlita sig på alt all erforderlig noggrannhet ochförsiktighet har iakttagits när produkterna har tillverkats och distribuerats. Dethar ansetts alt näringsidkare som tillhandahåller produkter under dessaförhållanden bör åläggas ett strängare ansvar för produktskador än vad somföljer av skadeståndslagen. Detta är bakgrunden till föreliggande promemoria.I den föreslås en särskild produktskadelag, som innefattar ett skärptskadeståndsansvar för produktskador. Förslaget ligger på de flesta punkter inomramen för det EG-direktiv om produktansvar som antogs . Ipromemorian diskuteras först i vilken mån det behövs strängare regler förproduktansvaret. Som grund för ställningstagandet till den frågan redovisas iavsnitt 2 vissa nuvarande förhållanden. Därvid konstateras inledningsvis attdet inte finns någon säker kunskap om i vilken omfattning produklskadorförekommer eller inom vilka områden av samhällslivet de är vanligast. Klart ärdock att produktskador ofta inträffar, inte minst i hemmen och ,trots atl åtskilliga åtgärder vidtas till förebyggande av skador. Behovetav nya skadeståndsregler är avhängigt av de ersättningsmöjlig-heler som redanfinns. I avsnitt 2 redogörs för de olika skadeståndsregler ochförsäkringssystem som ger ersättning för produktskador.Ersättnings-möjligheterna är betydligt bättre utbyggda när det gällerpersonskador än när det gäller sakskador. För de senare är de skadelidandeoftast hänvisade till egna försäkringar, i den män inte någon vårdslösskadevållare kan förmås att betala skadestånd. Särskilt inäringslivsförhållanden kan man räkna med att sakskador ersätts ur denskadelidandes egen försäkring. I fråga om personskador ger den allmännaförsäkringen ett grundskydd för alla som kommer till skada. Detta skydd täckerdock inte samtliga skador fullt ut. Inom olika områden av samhällslivet finnsdärutöver försäkringssystem och liknande anordningar som ersätter uppkommandeskador mer eller mindre fullständigt. Så är fallet med arbetsskador,trafikskador, läkemedelsskador och behandlingsskador inom Denallmänna motiveringen i promemorian (avsnitt 3) inleds med en redovisning iavsnitt 3.1 av vissa allmänna utgångspunkter. Beträffande lagstiftningsbehovetsägs här sammanfattningsvis att ökade möjligheter till ersättning förproduktskador behövs främst i fråga om personskador som uppkommer i hemmet, iskolan och samt i fråga om sakskador på egendom som används förenskilt ändamål. 1avsnitt 3.2 diskuteras hur den nya lagens tillämpningsområde bör avgränsas. Enförsta avgränsning föreslås genom definitionen av produktbegreppet. Med"produkt" skall förstås lös sak, men en produkt som har infogals iannan lös eller fast egendom skall anses alltjämt vara en produkt för sig.Enligt EG-direktivet görs undantag från lagens tillämpningsområde för skadororsakade av obearbetade produkter från lantbruk, fiske och jakt.Medlemsländerna har dock möjlighet att underlåta att göra detta undantag. Försvensk del föresläs inget sådant undantag. Frånlagens tillämpningsomräde föresläs däremot undantag för skador som omfattas avatomansvarighetslagen, trafikskadelagen eller lagen om motortävlingsförsäkringsamt arbetsskador som omfattas av kollektivavtalsgrundad försäkring. Skador avde angivna slagen ersätts nu enligt skadeslåndsrällsliga grunder genom andraersättningsanordningar, som anses fungera väl och därför böra bibehållas. Delföreslås i avsnitt 3.3 att produktskadelagen skall bygga på strikt ansvar menalt detta skall begränsas till att gälla i sådana fall där skadan har orsakatsav att produkten, när den sattes i omlopp, inte var så säker som då skäligenkunde förväntas. Delta förslag överensstämmer med EG-direktivets regel omstrikt ansvar för skador som orsakas av en defekt i produkten. I det svenskaförslaget används dock inte ordet "defekt". Produktens säkerhet skallenligt förslaget bedömas med hänsyn till dess förutsebara användning,marknadsföringen av produkten, bruksanvisningar och övriga omständigheter. Detkonstaleras i promemorian att den centrala regeln om ansvarsgrunden är vag ochkan befaras medföra svårigheter i rättstillämpningen. För att sädanasvårigheter i någon mån skall motverkas förs i promemorian utförliga resonemangom hur säkerheten hos en produkt skall bedömas. I avsnitt 3.3 föreslås vidarealt det skall krävas för att någon skall bli ansvarig enligt produktskadelagenatl han har satt produkten i omlopp.