Legal liability rules

Fishback, P.V. (1987). "Liability Rules and Accident Prevention in the Workplace Empirical Evidence from the Early Twentieth Century," Journal of Legal Studies 16(2) 305-28. 

Laws are a system of rules, which are intended to reflect social values, and are enforced through the courts (e.g. it is unacceptable to steal, kill, etc.). Laws can be considered as a compilation of rights, duties and obligations - the violation of which could give rise to legal liability. 

We cannot infer from court decisions whether the underlying legal rules favor the defendant or the plaintiff because legal rules affecf the selection of disputes from the universe of accidents (and nonaccidents) as well as the outcome (Eisenberg 1990). That, in itself, would not be a problem if there were data about people s decisions to litigate and settle but, for the most part, trials are the only window on the liability system... 

Lawyers will argue the legal aspects of the case for some time. Insurers of the flight have earmarked funds to cover flieir liability. Some blame the parent airline, Lufthansa, for not implementing a two-person occupancy at all times rule for cockpits. 

The interest evaluation between benefits and hazards in the narrower sense should be distinguished from the guarantee obligation of the state which is fulfilled by rules of law. This means that the responsibility of the state with respect to protection of important legal rights, such as life and health, is comprehensive and indivisible. There are additional aspects, for example, humaneness in the work place. Interest evaluation would not be sufficiently precise to outline the function of rules of law since the need for the three-pronged safety legislation, the conjunction of liability, sanction, and hazard protection, would not be stressed with sufficient clarity. 

The principle of duly of care in the development of the employers liability for compensation under common law was that the moral rule - love your neighbour as yourself - became the legal rule, you must not injure your neighbour ... 

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