7 - The case studies

Summary

National Reporters and the Editors

Austria: Willibald Posch and Bernd Schilcher

Belgium: Jean-Marc Trigaux

England: Estathios Banakas

France: Vernon Valentine Palmer and Christel de Noblet

Germany: Mathias Reimann

Greece: Kostas Christodoulou

Italy: Pier Giuseppe Monateri and Alberto Musy

Portugal: Jorge Sinde Monteiro

Scotland: Joseph Thomson and Lloyd Embleton

Spain: Pedro del Olmo and Fernando Pantaleòn

Sweden and Finland: Alessandro Simoni

The Netherlands: Willem van Boom

Comparative Commentary

Mauro Bussani and Vernon Valentine Palmer

Case 1: cable I – the blackout

Case

While manoeuvring his mechanical excavator, an employee of the Acme road works company cut the cable belonging to the public utility which delivers electricity to the Beta factory. The unexpected blackout caused damage to the machinery and the loss of two days of production. The factory owner is claiming compensation from the excavator not only for the damage of machinery but also for the damage caused by the loss of production.

France

I. In French law, the factory owner would recover his property loss and his pure economic loss from Acme's employee or Acme itself, under articles 1382–1384.

Since there is no privity of contract between Beta and Acme, French courts would consider this a tort action and apply articles 1382 to 1384 CC. According to those articles, the factory, Beta, will be able to sue either the employee of Acme who cut the cable (under arts. 1382–1383) or the employer itself, Acme (under art. 1384 alinea 5)