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?

Product liability claims are generally brought under:

• common law contract and tort principles, including negligence; or
• statutory provisions, including the Liability for Defective Products Act 1991, which transposed the EU Product Liability Directive (85/374/EEC) into Irish law.

In most cases, product liability claims are initiated by issuing a personal injury summons in the High Court, the Circuit Court or the District Court (depending on the value of the claim). A personal injury summons must be formally served, within one year of being issued, on the defendant, either: