Title III: Sources of obligations

A product is put into circulation when the producer has voluntarily disposed of it. A product is only put into circulation once.

A producer, when acting in a professional capacity, is the manufacturer of a finished product, the producer of a raw material, the manufacturer of a component part. Any person acting in a professional capacity is treated in the same way as a producer for the purposes of this chapter: 1° Who presents himself as a producer by affixing his name, trade mark or other distinctive sign to the product; 2°…

If the producer cannot be identified, the seller, the lessor, with the exception of a financial lessor or a lessor assimilated to a financial lessor, or any other professional supplier, is liable for the safety defect in the product, under the same conditions as the producer, unless he designates his own supplier or the producer, within a period of three months from the date on which the victim’s claim was…

In the event of damage caused by a defect in a product incorporated into another, the producer of the component part and the producer who carried out the incorporation shall be jointly and severally liable. .

The claimant must prove the damage, the defect and the causal link between the defect and the damage.

The producer may be liable for the defect even though the product was manufactured in compliance with the rules of the trade or existing standards or was the subject of an administrative authorisation.

The producer is liable ipso jure unless he proves: 1° That he had not put the product into circulation; 2° That, having regard to the circumstances, there are grounds for considering that the defect which caused the damage did not exist at the time when the product was put into circulation by him or that this defect arose subsequently; 3° That the product was not intended for sale or for…

The producer may not invoke the ground for exoneration provided for in 4° of article 1245-10 where the damage was caused by an element of the human body or by products derived from it.

The producer’s liability may be reduced or eliminated, having regard to all the circumstances, where the damage is caused jointly by a defect in the product and by the fault of the victim or of a person for whom the victim is responsible.

The producer’s liability towards the victim is not reduced by the act of a third party who contributed to the occurrence of the damage.