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Operating Defective Automobiles: The French Code and its North American Cousins

Operating Defective Automobiles: The French Code and its North American Cousins OPERATING DEFECTIVE AUTOMOBILES: THE FRENCH CODE AND ITS NORTH AMERICAN COUSINS John G. Fleming* Experience has shown that certain provisions of the Napoleonic Code, like some French wines, do not fare well in Atlantic crossings. Notorious is art. 1384 whose first paragraph purports to impose re­ sponsibility for damage caused not only by one's own conduct (fait) but also that of persons for whom one is answerable or of things in one's care. Following a list of the former group (parents, artisans, masters and employers) comes an "exculpatory clause" allowing parents and artisans to escape on proof that they could not have avoided the accident. This exculpatory clause was to become the fulcrum of the whole article's destiny. Since it only applied in terms to parents and arti­ sans, what was to be the basis of liability in the other instances cov­ ered by art. 1384? As is well known, during most of the Code's first century of exegesis, the view prevailed that the first paragraph was merely an elaboration of the fault principle enunciated in arts. 1382- 3, and it was not until, under the pressure of changing social and eco­ nomic conditions associated with industrialization and urbanization, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Comparative Law Oxford University Press

Operating Defective Automobiles: The French Code and its North American Cousins

Fleming, John G.
American Journal of Comparative Law , Volume 23 (3) – Jul 1, 1975
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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1975 by The American Society of Comparative Law, Inc.
ISSN
0002-919X
eISSN
2326-9197
DOI
10.2307/839376
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

OPERATING DEFECTIVE AUTOMOBILES: THE FRENCH CODE AND ITS NORTH AMERICAN COUSINS John G. Fleming* Experience has shown that certain provisions of the Napoleonic Code, like some French wines, do not fare well in Atlantic crossings. Notorious is art. 1384 whose first paragraph purports to impose re­ sponsibility for damage caused not only by one's own conduct (fait) but also that of persons for whom one is answerable or of things in one's care. Following a list of the former group (parents, artisans, masters and employers) comes an "exculpatory clause" allowing parents and artisans to escape on proof that they could not have avoided the accident. This exculpatory clause was to become the fulcrum of the whole article's destiny. Since it only applied in terms to parents and arti­ sans, what was to be the basis of liability in the other instances cov­ ered by art. 1384? As is well known, during most of the Code's first century of exegesis, the view prevailed that the first paragraph was merely an elaboration of the fault principle enunciated in arts. 1382- 3, and it was not until, under the pressure of changing social and eco­ nomic conditions associated with industrialization and urbanization,

Journal

American Journal of Comparative Law – Oxford University Press

Published: Jul 1, 1975

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