Quality and the Law

Insufficiently high product quality, i.e. a manufacturing non-conformity, is the most frequent reason for complaints and, therefore, for the manufacturer to be held liable. The consequences of such a non-conformity can be diverse: as long as they are of a nonstatutory and, especially, economic in nature and affect the manufacturers themselves (decline in sales, adverse effect on good reputation, reduction in profit, corrective cost etc.), these consequences are of no interest to the lawyer. Lawyers only find them “interesting” when a lack of product quality has an adverse effect on the legal spheres of third parties. When this is the case, there may be consequences under criminal and/or civil law. Consequences under civil law may be of a contractual nature (i.e. they may arise as the result of the conclusion of a contract) or of a non-contractual nature (i.e. they may be based directly in the law, regardless of whether a contract has been concluded between the parties involved). The requirements relating to responsibility for consequences of this nature, in other words for liability for any lack of product quality and for any (consequential) damage arising from the lack of quality, vary (c.f. below) and each case must be scrutinised for any legal grounds or grounds for claims.