The concept of product liability has come into force from the principle that people suffering loss by defective products must have the right to take legal action for such damages. Product liability is the expression given to laws affecting such rights.
Before the inception of the laws relating to product liability, those injured had to prove that the manufacturer was negligent before receiving any compensatory damages.
However, the Consumer Protection Act1987 eliminates the necessity to prove negligence. A customer now enjoys the liberty to sue a supplier even in the absence of any proof of negligence by virtue of a provision under the Sale of Goods Law. The Act provides identical rights to any person injured by a faulty product, whether or not the product was sold to them. The Act, however, does not affect any active civil laws controlling product liability. The Act carries out the European Community instructions on product liability which provides an analogous degree of protection for the consumer throughout the European Community.
An injured person can initiate action against producers which include the manufacturer and in the case of raw materials, the person who get hold of them. The list also includes processors like pea canner, but those involved exclusively in packaging are not affected
An injured person can also initiate action against importers which include importers into the European Community. In a given situation where goods are imported into another European Community country and then sold in the United Kingdom, the entire liability falls with the first importer and not upon the importer of United Kingdom.
