Strict Liability in Indian Legal System: Historical Considerations, Theoretical Foundations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of private Law, UAE Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dubai, United Arab Emirate

2 Department of private Law ,North Tehran Branch ,Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Among the constituent parts of law, shared between public and private law, is civil liability, which has a long history and each legal system has contributed to it. This Article tries to explain the historical roots and theoretical foundations of civil liability in the Indian legal system by emphasizing the theory of strict liability, which is one of the four major theories in this field. In fact, the purpose of this research is to investigate the formation of civil liability in India based on the mentioned theory. This theoretical research, in addition to adopting a historical approach, is based on the descriptive-analytical research method and has collected information in a library form by referring to existing books, documents and articles. The findings of this research indicate that civil liability in India – centered on the theory of strict liability – has been influenced by British law in most of its aspects. However, its foundations are various which have affected the evolution of the traditional legislative and legal system of this country, and as a result, the Indian legislator has not and does not ignore the conditions of the Indian society in the implementation of the relevant rules. One of the most important evidences of this difference is absolute liability, which is derived from strict liability and is used in the field of ultrahazardous activities.

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