Page "Tort" Paragraph 27

A statutory tort is like any other, in that it imposes duties on private or public parties, however they are created by the legislature, not the courts.

One example is in consumer protection, with the Product Liability Directive in the European Union, where businesses making defective products that harm people must pay for any damage resulting.

Liability for bad or not working products is strict in most jurisdictions.

The theory of risk spreading provides support for this approach.

Since manufacturers are the ' cheapest cost avoiders ', because they have a greater chance to seek out problems, it makes sense to give them the incentive to guard against product defects.

Another example is occupiers ' liability, which was seen as overly complex and illogical, so many jurisdictions replaced the common law rules for occupiers ' liability with statutory torts.

Statutory torts also spread across workplace health and safety laws and health and safety in food.