UNCERTAIN CAUSES: THE CHINESE TORT LIABILITY LAW IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

This chapter explains and evaluates the approach taken to uncertain (alternative) causes in the new Chinese Tort Liability Law that came into effect in 2010. It considers relevant provisions of the Law in comparative perspective, having regard both to other national legal systems and to the European harmonization projects. It argues that, by providing a general solution only to the problem of 'alternative' or 'indeterminate' defendants and restricting itself to an all-or-nothing approach, the new Chinese Law lags behind cutting-edge developments at national level, which have included the adoption of proportional liability in cases of alternative causes, both in the indeterminate-defendant scenario and where one of the possible risks emanates from the claimant's sphere.