Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction to the private and public laws of liability in France -- Droit privé : delictual liability for fault and for the "deeds of things" -- Droit privé : the law of sale -- Droit privé : liability for the provision of services involving products -- Droit administratif and liability for products -- Public services, service public, and liability for products -- Introduction to private and public liability in English law -- The tort of negligence, its adjudication, and its satellites -- The English law of sale of goods -- The English law governing public services, private services, and liability for products -- French law : formal bases of liability and practical "irresponsibility" -- English law : recurrent themes and endemic casuistry -- Fraudes, homicides, and the role of the partie civile -- English law : crime, the criminal process, and "essentially civil claims" -- The creation and maintenance of EEC directive on liability for defective products and the process of its implementation in the UK and France -- A closer look at the product liability directive -- The patterns of liability -- The consumer guarantees directive and its implementation in French and English law