Product Liability Comparative Guide

1 Product liability regimes

1.1 What are the legal regimes under which consumers who are injured by a defective product can bring a claim for compensation? What is the most common way in which such product liability claims are brought?

The legal regimes under which consumers who are injured by a defective product can bring a claim for compensation are as follows:

• Strict liability for defective products: Articles 1245 and following of the Civil Code apply where a product does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect, considering notably:
• • the presentation of the product;
  • the use that can reasonably be expected of it; and
  • the time when it was placed on the market (Article 1245-3).