Trends in Product Liability Law
On Friday 13 June, the research group welcomed Professor Vibe Ulfbeck from CEPRI, University of Copenhagen.
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聽is the director of the Centre for Private Governance at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, and is one of Europe鈥檚 leading experts on product liability.聽Ulfbeck gave an engaging lecture on recent developments in EU product liability law, focusing on both recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the new Product Liability Directive from 2024.
She pointed out that liability has evolved from covering harm caused by the inherent risks of physical and tangible objects to also including risks associated with intangible items such as electricity and AI systems.
Ulfbeck presented recent case law from the Court of Justice concerning liability for damage caused by high-voltage electricity. The new case law identifies network operators as new liable parties. Vibe Ulfbeck noted that new market structures resulting from the liberalisation of the electricity market complicate the allocation of liability under both the new and old directives.
The lecture also provided insightful examples of how the risk profile of AI systems creates new challenges for defect assessment under product liability law. She concluded that the directive remains unclear as to how strict liability should be when damage results from the autonomous characteristics of such systems.
