This collection of essays investigates the way in which modern private
law apportions responsibility between multiple parties who are (or may
be) responsible for the same legal event. It examines both doctrines and
principles that share responsibility between plaintiffs and defendants,
on the one hand, and between multiple defendants, on the other.
The doctrines examined include those 'originating' doctrines which
operate to create shared liabilities in the first place (such as
vicarious and accessorial liability); and, more centrally, those
doctrines that operate to distribute the liabilities and
responsibilities so created. These include the doctrine of contributory
(comparative) negligence, joint and several (solidary) liability,
contribution, reimbursement, and 'proportionate' liability, as well as
defences and principles of equitable 'allowance' that permit both losses
and gains to be shared between parties to civil proceedings. The work
also considers the principles which apportion liability between multiple
defendants and insurers in cases in which the cause, or timing, of a
particular loss is hard to determine.
The contributions to this volume offer important perspectives on the law
in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as a number
of civilian jurisdictions. They explicate the main rules and trends and
offer critical insights on the growth and distribution of shared
responsibilities from a number of different perspectives - historical,
comparative, empirical, doctrinal and philosophical.
