Pure Economic Loss

How far can tort liability expand without imposing excessive burdens upon individual activity? This comprehensive 2003 study of pure economic loss in Europe uses a fact-based comparative method and research into the laws of thirteen European countries. Includes a historical and analytical introduction to economic loss.

"This is the first book devoted solely to examining Canadian case authorities and the unique problems that arise from them. It also introduces a new innovative macro-organizational structure for understanding pure economic loss. In doing so, the book brings new insight, explanations, and ways of looking at this complicated subject area."--Publisher.

Pure economic loss is one of the most-discussed problems in the fields of tort and contract. This book takes a comparative approach to the subject, exploring the principles, policies and rules governing tortious liability for pure economic loss in a number of countries across the world including the USA, Canada, Japan, South Africa and Denmark.

Today, pure economic loss is probably one of the main problems in expanding tort law. In some countries, it is associated with uncontrollable and unforeseeable floods of claims to which there may be no end. In this book, leading authors shed light on the subject. An attempt is made to include a possible road towards a common European denominator on compensation for pure economic loss. The perspectives presented in this book are manifold. Contributions on the following topics are included: pure economic loss under specific national legal systems and from several comparative law perspectives, legal and economic analyses, tortious liability of banks and auditors, and an outlook on further developments.

The article discusses five distinct categories of claim for pure economic loss in negligence: misrepresentation, relational loss, defective buildings, discretionary public benefits and the performance of services. It concentrates on a criticism of recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, with brief and less critical reference to comparable decisions of the High Court of Australia. The article also sheds some light on the general question of how a court might best decide whether or not to recognize a novel duty of care.

The previous editions of Torts were highly regarded for their clarity of explanation and engaging writing style, and this new fourth edition fully retains each of these qualities. The text has been extensively revised and updated, and there is a new chapter on privacy. The enhanced layout includes end of chapter summaries and self-test exercises and an extensive bibliography. This is therefore an ideal companion to the subject for both law undergraduates and GDL/CPE students.