Proof of Causation in Tort Law Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law Series

Causation is a foundational concept in tort law: in claims for compensation, a claimant must demonstrate that the defendant was a cause of the injury suffered in order for compensation to be awarded. Proof of Causation in Tort Law provides a critical, comparative and theoretical analysis of the general proof rules of causation underlying the tort laws of England, Germany and France, as well as the exceptional departures from these rules which each system has made. Exploring the different approaches to uncertainty over causation in tort law, Sandy Steel defends the justifiability of some of these exceptions, and categorises and examines the kinds of exceptional rules suggested by the case law and literature. Critically engaged with both the theoretical literature and current legal doctrine, this book will be of interest to private law scholars, judges and legal practitioners.

Preface; Table of cases; Introduction; 1. Causal concepts and causal questions in tort law; 2. General proof of causation rules; 3. Justifying proof of causation; 4. Defendant indeterminacy: full liability and proportional liability; 5. Full liability beyond defendant indeterminacy; 6. Probabilistic liability; Conclusion.

Sandy Steel is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He was previously a Lecturer in Law at King's College London. His work has been cited by the High Court of Australia. In 2013, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. His other books include Great Debates in Jurisprudence (co-authored with Nick McBride, 2014) and The Structure of Tort Law (a translation of Nils Jansen's Die Struktur des Haftungsrechts, forthcoming).