There are exceptions to product liability for drugs such as vaccines. These are not subject to the Product Liability Act, but to pharmaceutical liability. As a result, vaccine manufacturers are also subject to strict liability, but there is a peculiarity in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines specially designed for it: the Federal Ministry of Health has limited the liability of manufacturers. Pharmaceutical companies are not liable under the Pharmaceutical Act if the products have been placed on the market by the federal ministry in response to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. 1.4 Can a supervisory authority be held liable for a defective product? If so, under what circumstances? So far, there are hardly any judgments on liability for products related to artificial intelligence or robotics in Germany. Liability issues for artificial intelligence are currently being discussed, especially from the point of view of automated driving with motor vehicles. It was agreed that the liability regime for drivers, owners and manufacturers under the Civil Code, the Highway Traffic Act and the Product Liability Act will be maintained. The Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) is the most common legal form for companies in Germany. The minimum share capital for the establishment of a German GmbH is 25,000 euros.
The German limited liability company is constituted by the founding shareholder(s), who signs a certificate of incorporation and articles of association in the presence of a German notary or equivalent shareholder. The German limited liability company is deemed to exist as soon as it is entered in the commercial register. It is managed by its managers and legally represented. On the death of a partner, the shares of the company pass to the heir (heir). As the partners are not registered in the commercial register, the heir does not have to be registered in the commercial register. However, according to § 40 GmbHG, the annual list of shareholders must be updated by the managing directors. The death of a managing director must be registered by all managing directors, §§ 78, 39 GmbHG. The manufacturer must provide the necessary instructions and warnings and comply with monitoring obligations (which may result in the need for subsequent additional warnings) and is liable for damage caused by non-compliance with these requirements.
There is no „theory of the learned mediator“, but in some cases a mediator has obligations to advise and warn. In general, there is no upper limit. According to para. In accordance with Article 10 of the Product Liability Act, the party liable for damage is only liable for personal injury up to a maximum amount of 85 million euros. In the case of protective vaccinations, insofar as they have been publicly recommended, ordered or prescribed by law or carried out on the basis of international health regulations, compensation for the health and economic consequences of the damage caused by vaccination may be obtained upon request under the Infection Protection Act (see also question 3.7). In Germany, there is no such form of market share liability. A company without liability for the product is not liable. There are several specific rules with different time limits; For example, in contract law. Claims for damages for injury to life, limb, health or liberty expire 30 years after the harmful event. There are also specific regulations, e.g.
para. Article 12 of the Product Liability Act, according to which claims are time-barred three years after the date on which the plaintiff should have known of the damage, the defect in the product and the person liable. In principle, it is possible for a regulatory authority to be held liable for a defective or defective product if it was obliged or required to supervise such a procedure and should have known that a product was defective in a manner and to an extent that required measures to protect users from danger. However, civil liability is subsidiary and rarely applicable. 1.2 Does the State have special liability regulations or compensation schemes for certain products, e.g. medicines or vaccines? In this case, the limitation period may start to run later; For example, if the seller of a product has fraudulently concealed the defect (see question 5.2). 4.10 Are factual or expert witnesses required to appear at pre-trial detention and are witness statements/expert reports exchanged prior to trial? Such funding may be provided; for example, through legal expenses insurance, which is quite common in Germany (cf. §§ 125-129 of the Insurance Act). First of all, there is the law and what the courts have done with it, starting with the specific provision of Article 309 No.