Along came a spider...

This book is the first part of a casebook on Torts in the Casebooks for the common law of Europe series, which the authors hope will be used as teaching material in universities throughout Europe and elsewhere. The objective of this casebook and of the whole series is to help uncover the common roots of the different legal systems, not to unify them. In other words, to strengthen the common legal heritage of Europe, not to strangle its diversity.

The casebook will comprise eight chapters: I. The Function of Tort Law; II. Scope of Protection; III. Unlawfulness and Culpability; IV. Liability for Others and for Things; V. Stricter Forms of Liability; VI. Causation; VII. Defences, Exclusions, Immunities; and VIII. Remedies. The present volume contains the second chapter, which can be seen as the general part of the casebook, as it includes, particularly in the sections on collective interests and supranational and international law, a number of materials which will be used in other chapters. When the other chapters of the casebook are ready, this chapter will be updated and integrated into the casebook. It will also be shortened by reproducing part of the materials of the full casebook in electronic format.

This chapter is being published as a separate volume in order to introduce the project to potential users, in the first place teachers, practitioners and students, and to invite them to make comments or suggestions as to form or substance. For, indeed, the authors know that the work is far from perfect, that it may contain errors of interpretation and that it could be improved in many ways (in particular as regards the inclusion of materials from legal systems other than the three major ones).

Work is currently under way on the other casebooks of the series, on Contracts, Judicial Review of Administrative Action and Corporations. It is hoped that some of the users of the present book will volunteer for cooperation on this vast and ongoing project.

The present chapter is published under the collective responsibility of an Editorial Committee composed of W. van Gerven, J. Lever, P. Larouche, C. von Bar and G. Viney. Material and comments were also received from H. Danelius and R. Errera, members of the Steering Committee of the casebook project, A. Tunc, emeritus professor at the University of Paris I and T. Weir, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. M. Claes, C. Pauwels and Y.P. Salmon were extremely helpful in collecting and correcting materials. Materials from specific countries were supplied by E. Eleftheriadou, B. Fasterling, L. Flyn, L. Plancker, E. Rodriguez Mariscal, M. Stein Poulsen. Documents and translations were also obtained thanks to L. Maggioni and C. Naomé of the European Court of Justice. The editors gratefully acknowledge their advice, assistance and support. A. Alvarez, research coordinator of the project, coordinated the work of all those involved, including the translators (identified under the translated material), and carried the full weight of the project with elegance and good humour. E. Willigers mastered with sublime patience the art of de- and re-composition of endlessly reshuffled materials.

This book and the entire project has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the University of Maastricht and of the European Commission. The Law Faculty of Maastricht University, and more particularly A. Luermans, director of the Law Faculty, and METRO have gracefully supplied the logistics to enable this part of the project to be carried out in due time.

1 September 1997.