Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability
# Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability

The Convention on the Law Applicable to Products Liability is a convention concluded in 1971 within the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), which governs the law that should be applied to products liability cases. It entered into force in 1973 and as of 2020, 11 countries are party to it.

## Scope of application

The convention exclusively determines the law that applies between the manufacturer or distributor of a product and the person(s) that have suffered damage. It thus does not handle which court has jurisdiction, or whether a judicial decision should be recognized.

The convention does not apply between the seller that directly sold the product to the person suffering the damage. The exclusion was chosen as the negotiators deemed the relationship between those two parties already clear enough, and would hamper wide adoption of the convention.

The products the convention applies to "shall include natural and industrial products, whether raw or manufactured and whether movable or immovable", and thus has a wide meaning. Member states can decide to exclude agricultural products from the scope of the convention (Article 16), as Spain did.

## Applicable law

The convention's main articles determining which law should be applied are Articles 4 and (if that doesn't result in an applicable law) Article 5. They are summarized below:

| Applicable law | If it is also... | Article | Condition |
| - | - | - | - |
| Location where damage occurred | Residence of the person suffering damage | Article 4a | |
| Location where damage occurred | principle place of business of the person held liable | Article 4b | |
| Location where damage occurred | place where the product was bought | Article 4c | |
| Residence of the person suffering damage | the product was bought there | Article 5a | Article 4 does not lead to an applicable law |
| Residence of the person suffering damage | the principle place of business of the person held liable | Article 5b | Article 4 does not lead to an applicable law |
| the principle place of business of the person held liable | not a claim based on the law of the state where the injury took place | Article 6 | Article 4 and 5 do not lead to an applicable law |

## Parties

| State | Signature | Ratification/Accession | Entry into force | Comments |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Belgium | 24 March 1976 | | | |
| Croatia | | 22 January 1994 | 8 October 1991 | succession of Yugoslavia |
| Finland | 10 August 1992 | 10 August 1992 | 1 November 1992 | |
| France | 18 December 1973 | 19 July 1977 | 1 October 1977 | |
| Italy | 6 February 1975 | | | |
| Luxembourg | 2 October 1973 | 31 May 1985 | 1 August 1985 | |
| Montenegro | | 1 March 2007 | 3 June 2006 | succession of Yugoslavia |
| Kingdom of the Netherlands | 2 October 1973 | 27 June 1979 | 1 November 1979 | for the whole Kingdom |
| Norway | 2 October 1973 | 13 August 1976 | 1 October 1977 | does not apply to "rules of prescription and limitation" |
| Portugal | 10 October 1973 | | | |
| North Macedonia | | 20 September 1993 | 17 November 1991 | succession of Yugoslavia |
| Serbia | | 29 April 2001 | 27 April 1992 | succession of Yugoslavia |
| Slovenia | | 8 June 1992 | 25 June 1991 | succession for Yugoslavia |
| Spain | 11 March 1987 | 23 November 1988 | 1 February 1989 | reserves the right not to apply it to agricultural products |
| Yugoslavia | 15 December 1976 | 15 December 1976 | 1 October 1977 | Still applicable through succession except in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo |
