The Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective

In recent decades, the liability of public authorities has been one of the main areas of development in and at the edges of tort law in Europe, with major reforms implemented or considered at a national level, and a steady stream of major court decisions. During the same period, 'Member State liability' has also been recognised in the law of the EU, and the interplay of principles of national and EU law and additionally the 'just satisfaction' jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights evidently warrants close attention. In this context, the aims of the present study are to contribute to the understanding of the law of extra-contractual liability as it applies to public authorities in the legal systems of Europe (and selected non-European jurisdictions), to facilitate its enhancement where necessary or desirable, and to consider the possibilities for harmonisation in the area specifically, through the extension and adaptation of the Principles of European Tort Law to cover public authority liability.

Ken Oliphant joined the University of Bristol Law School in 2006 and was appointed Professor of Tort Law in 2008. From 2009 to 2013, while on extended leave from the Law School, he was Director of the Institute for European Tort Law in the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He previously held faculty positions at King’s College London (1988-99) and Cardiff University (1999-2006). He pursues research on a wide-ranging set of topics relating to English, European and comparative tort law, and compensation for incapacity. He is a member of the European Group on Tort Law (and leading its current project on public authority liability), the European Law Institute, and the American Law Institute (for which he is currently an Adviser on the Restatement Third of Torts: Economic Harm).