Strict liability is a legal doctrine that holds a person responsible for the damages or loss caused by his or her acts or omissions.
This doctrine holds a person liability regardless of culpability.
Strict liability is important to tort law, particularly in product liability lawsuits.
It is also important for corporation law and criminal law.
In torts, strict liability is the doctrine that imposes liability on a party or person without a finding of fault.
A finding of fault would be negligence or tortious intent.
The plaintiff needs to prove only that the tort happened and that the defendant was responsible.
Strict liability is imposed for legal infractions that are malum prohibitum rather than malum in se.
Malum prohibitum means that an act is wrong because it violates a statute.
Malum in se means that an act is wrong because it is evil in and of itself.
Because the act was prohibited by statute, neither good faith nor the fact that a defendant took as many precautions as possible are valid defenses.
Strict liability frequently applies to those who were engaged in a hazardous or inherently dangerous venture.
Strict liability is different from absolute liability.
In absolute liability, only a guilty act is required for the person to be liable for an injury.
With strict liability, a guilty act and guilty mind are required.
In strict liability situations, the defendant can raise a defense of absence of fault.
The plaintiff, however, does not have to prove fault.
An example of strict liability is the tiger rehabilitation situation.
A tiger rehabilitation center can have the strongest tiger cages available; however, when a tiger escapes and if it causes damages and injuries, the owner of the tiger rehab center is liable.
While the tiger center may have taken as many precautions as possible, it was still involved in an inherently dangerous activity.
Another common example is when a contractor hires a demolition subcontractor that lacks proper insurance.
If the subcontractor makes a mistake and someone gets hurt, the general contractor is strictly liable for any damages that occur.
The law imputes strict liability to instances it considers inherently dangerous.
It is designed to discourage reckless behavior and needless loss by forcing potential defendants to take every possible precaution.
It also has the benefit of simplifying litigation and allowing the victim to achieve compensation more quickly.
In the United States, the most famous advocates of strict liability were Learned Hand, Benjamin Cardozo, and Roger J.
Traynor.
For more information on strict liability and product liability, please visit http://www.
medtroniclawsuitattorney.
com.