The legal mechanism for compensating damage caused by a product defect

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of compensation for damage caused by a defective product, taking into account national legislation, international standards, and European approaches aimed at ensuring an adequate level of protection for injured parties. The study elucidates the legal categories of “product”, “product defect”, “deficiency”, and “significant deficiency”, which operate within the sphere of civil liability, as well as their interrelation and distinctions. Particular attention is devoted to identifying the range of subjects within the legal relationship in which the duty to compensate damage arises, including the manufacturer, seller, service provider, and the injured party, who may be either a consumer or a user of the product, regardless of the existence of contractual relations with the manufacturer. The article examines both the legal and factual grounds for imposing liability on the manufacturer, with the key elements being the presence of a defect, the occurrence of damage, and the causal link between them. The specific features of applying the principle of strict (no-fault) liability of the manufacturer under the Civil Code of Ukraine and special legislation are highlighted, demonstrating how this principle significantly simplifies the claimant’s burden of proof. The analysis further addresses selected legislative inconsistencies, particularly concerning limitation periods and the correlation between the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On Liability for Damage Caused by a Defective Product”, which give rise to legal uncertainty in judicial practice. The article also explores the possibility of awarding moral (non-pecuniary) damages in disputes involving defective products in accordance with current regulatory acts and judicial interpretations. It concludes that further refinement of the legal mechanism for protecting injured parties is necessary, including clarifying legislative definitions, eliminating normative inconsistencies, and ensuring unified approaches to determining the conditions of civil liability for damage caused by a defective product.