LithuaniaCivilinis kodeksas (Civil Code), Articles 6.292 to 6.300, Liability for Damage Caused by Products or Services of Inadequate Quality (Directive 85/374/EEC)
Civilinis kodeksas, 6.292-6.300 straipsniai
In force since .
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- The Civil Code rules reach a movable thing placed on the market as a product, and the text does not say whether software supplied on its own is such a thing, so treat standalone software as an open question under Art. 6.293(1) read with Arts. 4.1 and 1.97(1).
- These rules govern products placed on the market or put into use before ; Act No. XV-1080 replaces them from that day (Art. 3 of Act No. XV-1080).
- These rules apply only where the product or service is acquired for consumption and not for business purposes (Art. 6.292(5)).
- If you produce a finished product, a part of it or raw materials, supply services, or put your name, trade mark or another distinguishing sign on a product or service, you answer for damage a defect in it causes (Art. 6.292(1) and (2)).
- If you import a defective product into the European Economic Area in the course of your business in order to sell, hire out or otherwise distribute it, you answer as the producer (Art. 6.292(3)).
- If you sold a product whose producer cannot be identified, tell the injured person within a reasonable time who the producer is or who supplied the product to you, or you answer as the producer (Art. 6.292(4)).
- Make the product meet the safety requirements a consumer can reasonably expect, judged by its stated properties and advertising, its expected use, the time it was put into circulation and its design flaws (Art. 6.294(1)).
- If damage results from the acts of several persons, such as the producer of a defective product and the person who built it into another thing, you answer jointly with them (Art. 6.296).
- Be ready to prove an Art. 6.298 defense: that you did not put the product into circulation, that it probably was not defective then or deteriorated later, that you did not make it for business purposes, that the quality deteriorated because mandatory rules of public authorities were followed, that scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered, or that the damage arose from the design of the product it was built into or the final producer's instructions (Art. 6.298(1)).
- A claim must be brought within three years of the day the injured person learned, or should have learned, of the damage, the defect and who the producer is, and the right to sue is extinguished ten years after you put the product into circulation (Art. 6.300).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a movable thing (kilnojamasis daiktas) in Article 6.293(1) of the Civil Code, a category that Article 4.1 describes as parts of the material world, include software supplied on its own as a product?
What this law does
The Commission's register of national transposition measures for Directive 85/374/EEC lists the Civil Code approval law, Act No. VIII-1864, as the single Lithuanian measure. Article 6.292 of the Civil Code, headed liability of the producer and the supplier of services, opens the section on damage caused by products or services of inadequate quality. Article 6.300 of the Civil Code, headed limitation of actions, closes that section. The Civil Code entered into force on .
Article 6.292(1) makes a producer or a supplier of services liable to compensate damage caused by products or services of inadequate quality. Article 6.292(2) treats as the producer the maker of the final product, of a part of it or of raw materials, the supplier of services, and any other person who presents itself as the producer by marking the product or service with its name, trade mark or another distinguishing sign.
Article 6.292(3) makes a person who imports a product of inadequate quality into the European Economic Area in the course of its business, in order to sell, hire out or otherwise distribute it, liable as a producer. Article 6.292(4) treats each person who sold the product as the producer where the producer cannot be identified, unless that person tells the injured person within a reasonable time who the producer is or who supplied the product.
Article 6.292(5) applies the section only where the products or services are acquired for consumption and not for business purposes. Article 6.293(1) defines a product as every movable thing, including primary agricultural products and game, and a movable thing that forms part of another movable or immovable thing. Article 6.293(1) also counts electricity as a product.
Article 4.1 of the Civil Code describes things as the parts of the material world taken from nature or created in a production process. Article 1.97(1) of the Civil Code lists things, other property, the results of intellectual activity and information as separate objects of civil rights.
Article 6.294(1) makes a product or service defective if it does not meet the safety requirements that a consumer can reasonably expect, judged by its stated properties and advertising, its expected use, the time it was put into circulation, its design or formulation flaws and other circumstances. Article 6.295 requires the injured person to prove the damage, the defect and the causal link between them.
Article 6.296 makes the persons whose acts caused the damage, for example the producer of a defective product and the person who built it into another thing, liable jointly. Article 6.298(1) releases a producer that proves it did not put the product into circulation, that the product probably was not defective at that time or deteriorated later, or that it did not make the product to sell, hire out or distribute for business purposes.
Article 6.298(1) also releases a producer that proves the quality deteriorated because mandatory rules set by public authorities were followed, that scientific and technical knowledge when the product was put into circulation did not allow the defect to be discovered, or that the damage arose from the design of the product it was built into or from the final producer's instructions.
Article 6.298(3) allows the liability to be reduced or excluded where the damage was caused also by the fault of the injured person. Article 6.299(1) covers damage from death or injury to health, including non-pecuniary damage, and damage of at least EUR 500 to property of the injured person that is intended and normally used for personal needs, other than the defective product itself. The EUR 500 threshold does not apply where the damage was caused by services of inadequate quality.
Article 6.300 sets a limitation period of three years from the day the injured person learned or should have learned of the damage, the defect and who the producer is, and extinguishes the right to sue ten years after the producer put the product into circulation. Act No. XV-1080 keeps these rules in force for products placed on the market or put into use before .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product or ships a mobile app.