Liability for Means of Mass Transportation in Scandinavia
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Bjarte Askeland
Abstract
The article presents an overview of Norwegian law with regard to damages caused by means of mass transportation by buses, railways and airplanes. The author explains why and how in Norway, as elsewhere in Scandinavia, there is strict liability for damages caused by means of mass transportation. Also the assessment of damages in the mentioned categories is discussed. For personal injuries there are no caps for trains or buses, partly because a greater part of the loss of income is covered by social security benefits, something which is typical of the ‘Nordic model’. Along the same lines, the rules on contributory negligence favour the victim somewhat more than in other parts of Europe, with regard to accidents caused by both buses and trains. Hence the law is all in all rather friendly to the victim. As for damage caused by air traffic, there are tensions between the ‘victim-friendly’ attitude and the relevant EU regulations which make the Montreal Convention applicable to Scandinavian law. These tensions are discussed towards the end of the article. Thus the article highlights and illustrates how the Scandinavian legal culture with the ‘Nordic Model’ as its special hallmark endorses solutions that somewhat contradict the common solutions in continental Europe and in the UK.
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Non-Contractual Liability for Railways, Buses and Aeroplanes
- Tort Law and Mass Transportation Accidents: A French-German View on Legal Challenges in Times of Market Deregulation
- Liability for Means of Mass Transportation in Scandinavia
- The Place of Tort Law in the Public Transport System: The Case of the British Railway
- Book Reviews
- S Green, Causation in Negligence (Bloomsbury 2015). 185 pp. ISBN 978-1-78225-521–5. £ 50.00 (hardback).
- Ken Oliphant (ed), The Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge: Intersentia 2016). xiv + 888 pp. ISBN 978-1-78068-238-9 €98.00/$118.00/£ 94.00 (hardback).
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Non-Contractual Liability for Railways, Buses and Aeroplanes
- Tort Law and Mass Transportation Accidents: A French-German View on Legal Challenges in Times of Market Deregulation
- Liability for Means of Mass Transportation in Scandinavia
- The Place of Tort Law in the Public Transport System: The Case of the British Railway
- Book Reviews
- S Green, Causation in Negligence (Bloomsbury 2015). 185 pp. ISBN 978-1-78225-521–5. £ 50.00 (hardback).
- Ken Oliphant (ed), The Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge: Intersentia 2016). xiv + 888 pp. ISBN 978-1-78068-238-9 €98.00/$118.00/£ 94.00 (hardback).
